


Beginning Today

by Baloo18



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-12 12:30:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 64,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13547370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baloo18/pseuds/Baloo18
Summary: A small town girl wishes for adventure and finds it with someone unexpected.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Everyone. I originally posted this story on FanFiction and decided that as I edit it I would post it on here as well. I have been working on this story for a very long time, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

My name is Natalie Marie Colton, and right now life pretty much sucks. I've had a rough last two years, so things can only get better from here right? I'm not so sure anymore but I can only try to be optimistic. Two years ago my parents were killed in a car crash on their way home from an office party. They never caught the other driver who collided with them; apparently the guy just took off. When I got the news I didn't want to believe it. They were good people and bad things aren't supposed to happen to good people right? They were the best parents a child could ask for, loving, kind, and generous. I had the best childhood, I was never left wanting. Usually it's the things we take for granted that hurt the most when their suddenly ripped away. A hug before bed, a conversation during dinner, even an "I love you" before you leave the house. Those are all gone now.  
Anyways I am now 19 and trying to make it on my own. Currently all plans for college had to be put on hold. I am now a waitress working in a small rundown diner, but a job is a job. The diner is located in a small town in California; I don't even think we are on a map. The owner Gus has become a sort of parental figure in my life. He gave me a job and has helped me through the loss of my only family; he even helped me get through my last year of high school so I could graduate. Then there's Ava, she is Gus's wife. She has to be the sweetest woman on earth as long as you don't mess with her family. She likes to pick on me sometimes because I'm so short. I'm 5'4; I have long curly brunette hair, and hazel eyes. She is 5'8 so I call her the "Giant" when she stands next to me. Working at the diner has taught me how to smile again, Gus and Ava kept me from losing myself. But I'm stuck in this boring life of just existing. I want adventure and excitement! Little did I know my wish was about to come true. My adventure was about to begin when a group of strange bikers walked into Gus's Diner.


	2. Meet Mr. Creepy

It's been a slow day, so far only a couple customers have come in and its only 3:00. Currently the place is empty. Gus is in the kitchen doing who knows what; Ava is in the office going over paperwork, leaving me all alone out front. The only company I have is old man Gregory who is reading the paper and drinking coffee. Not that I'm complaining about the lack of work, I'm just really bored. There are only so many times I can wipe off the tables. Not to mention it's a hot summer day and the air conditioner barely works. I am so lucky that Gus doesn't make me wear a uniform. Today I'm wearing short black denim shorts, a white tank top, white tennis shoes, with my diamond heart necklace that belonged to my mother. I had put on some eye liner and lip gloss, and then I just put my hair up in a messy bun this morning. I have realized that one must dress to save themselves from this heat. Seriously an egg could be fried outside on the side walk. Hey I wonder if Gus would let me have an egg.

"Hey Nat can an old man get another cup of coffee?" Gregory asked breaking me of my thoughts.

"What old man? I don't see any old man in here." I say as I walk up to him. "I only see a handsome distinguished gentleman." Gregory was 68 years young; he had white hair that is always immaculate. He has the kindest blue eyes, and comes to the dinner at 12:00 every day and stays until 4:00.

"Oh stop it now. You know my poor old heart can't take that flirty behavior of yours." He says slightly blushing, which always makes me smile.

As I was pouring his coffee the rumble of motorcycles could be heard from outside. Not long after four men walked into the diner. They are kind of a scruffy looking bunch and they didn't seem to be in that good of a mood. "Hi, you all can sit anywhere." I said as I walked back towards the counter to get menus. Before I could get the menus Gus comes barreling out from the Kitchen almost knocking me over.

"Clay it's been awhile." Gus said as he went up and shook the man named Clay's hand.

"That is has. You got somewhere we can talk?"

"Sure follow me." Then Gus turned to me and said, "Get these guys anything they want Nat." Then he took Clay into the back.

I grabbed three menus and walked over to the table where the other three bikers were sitting. As I walked over I took in their appearances. One had shoulder length blond hair; he had a handsome rough pretty boy thing going on. The next guy was kind of adorable; he had a Mohawk and had a tattoo on his head. The last guy kind of scared me; he had dark curly hair and piecing eyes. He watched me as I approached the table almost like a predator stalking its prey. I have to say even though he was creepy, he was hot.

"Hi," I said as I set down the menus. "What can I get you guys to drink?"

"I'll take a coke" the one with the Mohawk said.

"Same here," said the pretty boy.

"I'll take a beer," the last one said while pulling out a cigarette.

"I'm sorry but we don't serve alcohol here. And you can't smoke inside the diner," I said while the other two laughed. I whispered, "It's kinda illegal."

"Fine then I'll take a coke," he smirked and continued to light his cigarette.

"I'll go get that for you," I said as I reached over and grabbed his cigarette and put it out on the plate that is under the salt and pepper. He glared at me while the other two laughed harder. For a second I thought he just might kill me. Then he just started laughing and said "You got guts Doll."

I released a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding and turned around to go get their drinks. I grabbed three glasses from under the counter and walked over to the soda machine. I put some ice in the first glass then started to fill it with coke. I glanced up and Mr. Creepy was staring at me. When my eyes met his I could feel myself start to blush, and become a bit self-conscious. For some reason I was oddly attracted to him. So I decided to ignore him and started on the next glass. When I finished I took the three of them their drinks.

"Thanks" they all said. As I was about to ask them for their order the door to the diner opened. In walked three people I really didn't want to see. Kevin, Duke, and Randy the resident pains in my ass. They are the biggest jerks I have ever had the misfortune to meet. They were the typical jocks in high school, but have seemed to forget we graduated almost two years ago. They actually still wear their letterman's jackets and "hang out" on the schools' foot ball field after school. I ignored them for the time being and turned back to the bikers.

"So have you guys decided what you want yet?"

"Nah were good right now, but thanks anyways darlin" the blonde one said.

"Ok just wave me over when you're ready," I said and walked over to the counter where the three idiots were. I looked over and saw that Mr. Gregory was ok and walked behind the counter. "What can I get for you three?" I asked "trying" to be pleasant.

"A date tonight," Kevin said smirking. He has been trying to go out with me since we were freshmen in high school. I just happen to find that idea nauseating.

"Sorry, we don't serve that beverage. Is there something else you want instead?" I said as sweetly as I could.

"Come on Natalie you know you want to go out with me." He said with that stupid ass smirk, "Who can resist this?" He said while looking himself up and down. He had a buzzed head, and a buff body. He was wearing a tight white t-shirt that showed off his muscles and jeans, if he wasn't such an ass he might have been appealing. The other two just smirked while they crossed their arms over their chest. They were the beefy bodyguard type, but a crayon had more intelligence then them.

"Apparently me and every other girl in this town," I smirked back. That just made him mad; before I could blink he reached across the counter and grabbed my wrist. "Let me go Kevin." I said he was really starting to piss me off. I tried to get his hand off me but he only tightened his grip. He had me almost half-way over the counter.

"No, what are you going to do about it? Besides I have your attention now don't I." He said with this almost evil looking smile on his face. "Say you'll go out with me to night and I'll let you go. You never know, I could grow on you."

"Ya like a fungus, now let me go," I growled still trying to get my wrist back. Then from behind him a voice growled out, "I believe the lady said to let her go." I looked and saw Creepy standing behind Kevin.

"This doesn't concern you," Kevin said through gritted teeth.

"I'm only gonna tell you this one more time, let her go before I make you." Creepy growled. Kevin laughed and dropped my arm. He spun around ready to hit Creepy, but creepy hit him first. When Creepy's fist connected with Kevin's nose I could actually hear the crunch of it breaking. Duke and Randy were about to go attack Creepy from behind when the other two bikers stood up. Duke and Randy weren't all that bright, but they knew by looking at the bikers that it meant pain if they interfered. Creepy was just beating on Kevin; I don't think I have ever seen someone bleed so much.

"What the hell is going on here?"


	3. Threats, Tips, and Rodrigo

"What the hell is going on here?" Gus shouted as he ran out from the back followed closely by Clay.

"Tig get off of him," Clay said with a frustrated look. When Creepy, I mean Tig, what a weird name, didn't stop Clay yelled at the other two bikers, "Jax, Juice get him off the guy." When they didn't move he added, "Now!"

The two bikers who I now know as Jax and Juice walk over to Tig, grab his arms and pull him off of what used to look like Kevin. Tig shook the other two off him and leaned down towards Kevin. He said in a chilling voice, "From now on you better keep your hands to yourself if you want to keep them." Then he looked over at me standing behind the counter rubbing my wrist. His eyes look so cold and empty as they stared into mine. Even though I'm shaken, I feel grateful for his interference. He looked back down at Kevin, "You touch her again in any way and it will be the last thing you do." He looked over at Duke and Randy and growled, "Get him out of here."

Randy and Duke wasted no time in picking Kevin up off the floor and makingtheir way outside. They were moving so fast you would have thought the devil was chasing them. I would have found it amusing any other time, but I'm still kind of in shock. As soon as the door to the dinner closed Clay turned to Tig, "What the hell were you thinking? We don't need this shit right now."

"Hey, I was just trying to be an upstanding citizen," Tig shrugged and walked back over to his table picking up his drink. This caused Jax and Juice to laugh and Clay to roll his eyes.

"Nat" someone said causing me to jump. I look over and Gus is starring at me, "What happened?" Gus asked. 

"Kevin was being an ass as usual," was all I could manage to say. I grabbed two rags from under the counter, one I slightly wet, and the other I took to the ice machine. I wrapped some ice in it making it into an ice pack. Ignoring the looks I was getting I walked over to the biker Tig. The entire time he watched me as I approached him. "Here," I said as I handed him the items. "Thank you." I said looking in his eyes which seemed to warm up one or two degrees since the idiots left. When he didn't reply I turned and walked back behind the counter.

"Can I get some water over here?" Mr. Gregory asked looking up from his newspaper. He spoke as if the incident with Kevin was a normal occurrence.

"Sure thing," I said trying to act like everything was normal. While I started to get Mr. Gregory's water I noticed Jax and Juice go back to their table.

As I started to walk over to Mr. Gregory's table Gus stopped me. "You alright there Nat?" he said starring at my wrist which is starting to bruise.

"I'm alright, I promise," I said giving him a small smile, continuing on my way. After making sure I was alright Gus headed back into the back followed by Clay. As I reached Mr. Gregory's table he smiled up at me. "Here you go," I say.

"Are you really alright Natalie?" he asks me with concern filled eyes.

"Yes, do you mind if I sit with you for a little while?" I asked my voice sounding shaky. It's not every day I see someone get their face rearranged.

"Of course my dear, you can help me finish this crossword," he said smiling at me causing me to laugh lightly. So for twenty minutes Mr. Gregory and I worked on his crossword. I only got up once to refill the bikers drinks. Occasionally I would look up to see Creepy starring at me, but the moment my eyes met his he would look away. Him and the other bikers haven't spoken to me only saying, "thank you" when I gave them new drinks. The only sounds in the diner were Mr. Gregory and me discussing the crossword clues, and the biker's quite conversation.

"Alright let's get out of here," Clay said as he came from the back. As soon as he spoke the bikers were up and out of their seats. "Thanks Gus, see ya in a few days." 

With those parting words all four bikers walked out. As Creepy was walking out he looked back at me with a smirk, he winked at me causing me to blush, which made him laugh as he walked out the door. A few moments later the rumble of their engines started, the sound fading as they drove away from the diner.

I looked over at Gus who was standing at the counter starring at me. I can tell that he is troubled because his forehead is creased and he is wearing a frown. This can't be good, Gus only frowns when something is wrong and he can't fix it. "Excuse me Mr. Gregory I have a table to clean up." I say as I get up from Mr. Gregory's table.

"That's quite alright my dear I have to get going myself," he says as he pulls out his wallet.

"Now Mr. Gregory you know your money is no good here," I say frowning at him. "All you have had is a couple cups of coffee and water, which can't be healthy," I tease.

"You sound just like my daughter," he laughs as he lays a ten and a five dollar bill on the table.

"I can't take this," I say as he starts to walk towards the door.

"Of course you can," he says with a smile. As he opens the door he calls over his shoulder, "See you tomorrow Natalie, Gus."

I can't help but sigh at that sweet old man, he is like surrogate grandfather. I don't know what I would do without him.

I pick up Gregory's cup, and money. As I walk over to the counter I can see Gus is still starring at me. I walk behind the counter and put the glasses in a tub used to bus the tables, and then walk over to the cash register. I put both the ten and five in. "You know that ten is for you, why do you always put it into the register?" Gus asks me.

"Because I feel like it," I say grabbing a spray bottle, some rags, and the dirty dishes tub. 

Gus walks over to the register pulls the ten dollar bill back out and hands it to me. I glare at him but Gus just shakes his head and laughs before walking into the kitchen. I walk over to the bikers table to start cleaning it and see the rags I had given Creepy. Even though I know his name is Tig, Creepy just seems a better fit. I put the glasses in the tub, and then I use the rag that had the ice in it to pick up the bloody rag that was used to wipe off his hand. As I reach towards the plate that I put Creepy's cigarette out on I see a twenty and a ten dollar bill. I put the money in my pocket till I can put it in the register, and spray the table and wipe it down. I pick up the tub and once again head behind the counter making a detour by the register to put the money inside. I now make my way into the kitchen with the dirty glasses.

"Just put those in the sink I'll take care of them," Gus calls over his shoulder. He's standing over the stove probably trying to make some new concoction. More like science projects then food, but its always fun to see what he comes up with. "You can go ahead and head home now if you want, I'm thinking of closing early tonight."

"Are you sure, I can stay awhile longer?" I ask we never close early except on holidays. Something definitely is wrong here.

"Yes I'm sure," he says, "Oh here I want you to take this home with you to try. Have it for diner and tell me if you liked it tomorrow," he says looking excited.

"Alright," I say taking the take home box cautiously; seriously you never know what he makes. One time I swear I thought the "new dish" that he made was going to walk off of the plate. In fact he called it Gus's tasty walking chicken, well he got the walking part right. "Do you want me to wake Ava up on my way out?"

He laughs and says, "No, I'll do it. You would think she would realize that we know that checking her emails and looking over the "books" doesn't take four hours."

"She just likes to think she's being sneaky. She loves her naps," I laugh. "Well goodnight then Gus."

"Night Nat, we'll see you tomorrow." Gus says as he waves me off turning back to the stove.

I walk out front and grab my bag from under the counter. I then begin the process of navigating through my purse to find my keys. Man I really need to clean out this thing; I have gum in here that I bought two months ago, old receipts, hard candy that I stuck in here last Halloween no wait they're cough drops, oh hey my missing lip gloss. Finally I find my keys and start walking out the door. My 1989 Chevy Camaro is parked up close. Its forest green and breaks down more than it runs, but it's my baby. I named him Rodrigo, I'm weird I know. I unlock the car, get in, and now I am going to hope and pray he will start up. And I guess it's my lucky day he started after two tries.

I finally get to make my way towards home; I've kept it exactly the way my parents left it. I just couldn't sell it. It has three bedrooms and two baths, a decent size kitchen, a garage, and a pool in the back. My favorite place though is the front yard; there is a huge tree that is perfect to sit under on warm days and nights, it sits next to the garden my mother kept. It's big for just one person, but it's the only place I actually feel safe. I pull up in front of my house and see someone I didn't expect. Someone I haven't seen since my parents funerals.


	4. Mystery Indeed

I can't believe it, my mother's best friend June Stahl was sitting on the steps of my house. I wonder what she is doing here; I haven't heard from or seen her since my parent's funerals. She is dressed in a suit like always, with her sunglasses shading her eyes. She smiles at me as I get out of the car.

"Natalie Marie Colton," she says looking me up and down as I approach her, "You sure have grown."

"People tend to change when you haven't seen them in two years," I say walking up the stairs. "What do you want June?"

"What no hello, no hugs, no it's nice to see you?" She says smiling. She then stands up to follow me to the door.

"I haven't seen or heard from you in two years," I state while unlocking the front door. "I would have expected you of all people to come and check up on me, maybe even call to see if I was alright." I open my door and stand in the door way.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you," she says putting her sunglasses on top of her head, "Can I come in and talk, maybe we can catch up?"

"We wouldn't need to catch up if you had called," I say bitterly. "You were my mom's best friend, I considered you family and you just deserted me. You promised me you would help me, but you haven't been here. Gus and Ava are the ones who got me through school, gave me a job, got me into counseling, and listened to me on days all wanted to do was stay in bed and cry." I say slightly shouting, "There you're all caught up. Now what do you want?"

"Ok I see that you're angry," she says trying to look guilty. At that moment I absolutely knew she wanted something from me. She always was good at using people and not caring if they got hurt. It never bothered me before, but I've grown up and see her as she really is now. "I'll just get to the point then. A group of bikers came into the dinner you work at today, didn't they?"

"There were a bunch of different people who came into the dinner today, what's it to you?"

"Come on Natalie, don't lie to me, I saw them go into the dinner and leave." She says smugly. "So you want to tell me why they were there?"

"They were customers, they came in, had a couple cokes and left." I say, where is she going with this?

She laughs and says, "Come on Nat, you didn't notice anything?" I shook my head no. "Alright, I want you to call me if they come back to the dinner," She says handing me her business card. "I am sorry I haven't kept in touch. I promise to fix that." She says patting my arm, and turning to walk down the steps.

"Don't bother," I call after her. "I've been doing just fine without you." She just kept walking like she hadn't heard me.

I slam my front door and head to my kitchen. The nerve of that woman! Popping up and expecting me to do her a favor! She has another thing coming, I refuse to let her use me. I put my bag and take out box on the counter and look down at her business card. I can't believe my family used to associate with someone so conniving. To think she was someone I used to look up to. I tare the card up and throw it in the trash. I don't need her; she can do her own dirty work. I wonder what she wants with the bikers though, they seem like decent people. Ugh I'm starting to get a headache. I put my food in the fridge, and grab a bottle of water. I think I'll take a nap, today has really taken a toll on me. Now with June showing up out of no where, I know something is definitely going on. I lie down on the couch and hope that my head will feel better when I wake up.

"Are you feeling any better sweetheart?"

"No mom, I still have a really bad headache," I moan pulling my pillow back over my head.

She sighs, "I don't think we should go tonight. I don't like leaving you home alone when you don't feel well," she says pulling the pillow away from my head. She puts her hand against my forehead, "Oh my you're running a fever. That settles it I'm staying home."

"I'll be fine mom. I'll take a couple aspirin and go to sleep. No problems," I say trying to make her feel better. "Besides, you and dad have been talking about going to this party for weeks."

"You matter more to me than a party." She argued

"Mom it's alright, I just want to go to sleep." I say, "Go have fun I'll see you when you get home."

"Alright," she agrees after a few moments of thought, "You have to keep your cell phone next to you. The door is to remain locked, and you are to stay in bed. Your father and I will stay at the party for an hour then we will come home. You are to call us immediately if you feel worse."

"Yes mam," I say. She hands me some aspirin and water. "I love you, go have fun."

"Love you too, see you in a couple of hours," she says as she gets up and leaves the room.

Bang  
Bang  
Bang

I wake up to someone pounding on the door. I slowly get out of bed and make my way to the front door. "Who is it?" I call out holding my aching head.

"It's the police; we need to speak with Natalie Colton." the voice from the other side of the door said. 

Why would the police be here? I slowly open the door, "I'm Natalie Colton. What can I do for you?"

"I'm afraid we don't have good news," one of the two police men said. "Can we come inside?"

"What's going on?" I ask not moving from the doorway. 

"I'm sorry to inform you that your parents were in a car accident this evening." The second police man says, causing my heart to stop.

"Are they ok?" I question starting to cry. "Which hospital are they at? Are you here to take me to them?"

The officers look at me with sad eyes. Something isn't right, why aren't they taking me to my parents? "We are very sorry, they didn't survive the crash." 

 

I wake up from my nap with tears streaming down my face. That has to be my worst memory. That night seems to like replaying itself over and over in my dreams. I look over at the clock and see it's still early, around 7:00. I need to get out of the house. I slip my shoes back on, walk into the kitchen and grab my purse. A walk seems like the best idea to clear my head.

I lock my door and head out. I start walking down the street and think about today. That biker Tig sure knows how to make an impression. Just thinking about that smirk and wink he sent my way makes me blush. I can't believe he actually beat up Kevin, and stood up for me. Something tells me that's an out of the norm thing for him to do. I was so deep in thought that I lost track of where I was going. This really is a small town because the dinner is up ahead across the street, and there is a van and some motorcycles in the parking lot. Hmm those bikers must have forgotten something.

As I walk past the diner I look over in time to see Tig walk out the diner door carrying a black bag. He looks up at me like a kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I stop and smile; we just stare at one another. Another biker comes out and says something to him, and our connection is broken. Tig turns to go back inside so I turn around and head back towards home. That man really is a mystery.

I was about a block away from the dinner when I heard, "Hey, kid wait up." I turn around and see Tig running after me.

"I have a name you know." I say sarcastically

"What makes you think I want to know," he says

"There a reason why you're following me?" I ask

He just stares at me for a few minutes which is kind of creeping me out. "You need to forget what you just saw," he finally says.

"See? I didn't see anything."

"Good," he smirks at me causing me to blush.

"Thank you again for today," I say earnestly.

"It was nothing, he shouldn't have put his hands on you," he says almost angrily.

"I appreciate you stepping in anyways."

"Your not gonna cry and get all sappy on me are you?" he says with a disgusted look on his face.

"No," I laugh and he smiles.

"Well I gotta go," he says looking behind him. "We can discuss how you can thank me later." Not waiting for a reply he turns and starts walking back to the dinner, leaving me blushing on the sidewalk. Mr. Tig is a mystery in deed.


	5. I'm Taking You Home

"Natalie, sweetheart can you take that table?" Ava asks from behind me. Today is actually a busy day for the diner; it's nice because lately we haven't had many. It's been a week since the bikers were here, and June showing up. Everything has basically gone back to its same normal boring routine. It's amazing how one day can change one's perspective.

"Sure Ava, I got it," I say as I make my way towards the table. It's a booth in the back next to the window, there's a nice couple that comes in from time to time. "Hi can I get you something to drink?" I ask setting two glasses of water on the table.

Before they could answer a loud screeching sound followed by a crashing sound was heard from outside. I look out the window and see that a truck had run right into the backend of a black Cadillac. The woman in the Cadillac gets out of her car and man does she look mad. As the woman walks up to the driver side of the truck, the truck backs up and takes off down the street. The woman begins yelling after it. That truck looks kind of familiar, hmm. By now everyone has either gone outside or is pressed up against the window watching the scene unfold. Gus had walked up to the woman and they start to talk almost like they know one another.

"Ok, so what can I get you both to drink?" I ask the couple trying to get back to business.

"Iced tea for both of us," the man says.

"Ok, I'll be right back with that for you." I smile.

I walk back behind the counter and begin to get the couple's drinks. When I look up Gus and the woman are walking in. The woman is tall, has dark hair with blond highlights, and looks like she is ready to kill someone.

"Oh my goodness, Gemma are you alright?" Ava asks as she walks away from the table she was cleaning. I guess Gus does know her.

"I'm fine, but whoever it was that truck that hit me isn't going to be." Gemma huffed.

"Come on sweetheart, we'll go in the back and call your boys to come and get ya," Ava says leading Gemma to the office. Turning to me she says, "Nat can you watch my tables?"

"I've got everything under control," I say waving her off, walking back to the couple with their drinks.

Three hours later the diner is finally empty. Ava has only come out of the office to get her and Gemma some coffee. Gus was as swamped in the kitchen as I was out front. As I start cleaning the tables from the last customers I hear the rumble of motor cycle engines. No more than a minute later the dinner is swarming with bikers with frantic looks. They were all talking at once and I couldn't understand any of them. Where are Gus and Ava when you need them?

"Excuse me," I try calling over them. They just talked over me so I stood on the chair closest to me, "Excuse me," I yelled and the room got quiet. The bikers all turned to look at me. "Now that I have your attention, the woman I assume you are looking for is in the back office with Ava." Before they could start their questioning I add, "No, no one knows who did it, yes she is fine, and yes you can go in the back to see her." After I finished my speech I get off the chair and get back to work on the tables, I really just want to go home.

Two men, if I remember correctly Clay and Jax, went to the office while the others sat in chairs at tables. "Hey guys," Gus says coming from the kitchen, "Gemma's with Ava in the office."

"We know the little lady of there filled us in," said a man with a Scottish accent.

I ignore them and continued with my work. I'm exhausted, a packed day, and three hours on my own can really take its toll. If days like today weren't so rare I would ask Gus and Ava to hire another waitress. As I walk towards my last table to clean a wall jumps in front of me. I look up and see that I have run right into Tig. He just smirks as he looks down at me.

"Hey kid," he says

"Hi, Creepy," I say smirking back.

"Who the hell is Creepy?" he asks looking confused.

"You are," I say taking a step back from him. "You see since you won't call me by my name, I can't call you by yours."

"Well I don't know your name, so how can I call you by it huh kid?" he counters.

"Do you want to know my name," I ask.

He looks like he is thinking for a few moments, "Mmmmm nah its ok," he says, "kid".

"You are an ass," I say getting frustrated.

"Thank you," he smirks.

I glare at him and walk around him to finish cleaning my table. Behind me I can hear him chuckle. I finish the table and Gus comes out from the kitchen. "You can head home now Nat if you want."

"Thanks Gus," I say putting the rag I was using under the counter, and grab my bag. As I walk towards the door I can feel someone watching me. I look over and see Tig smirking at me as I walk out the door. It seems that all he ever does is smirk at me, its starting to get on my nerves, and I think he knows that. I walk out side and unlock my car. I put the key in the ignition and nothing. No this can't be happening to me, why today of all days, I try three more times and nothing. "Ugh" I groan and get out of my car only to head back into the diner. I'll let Gus know that I'm leaving my car here, then I'll walk home. I'm just glad the weather is nice right now, otherwise walking home would suck.

As I walk back in I ignore the starring bikers. I noticeGus isn't out front so I head to the kitchen. He isn't there either, I guess that means I have to ask one of the guys where he went.

"Did you forget something sweetheart," Tig asks as I come out of the kitchen.

I ignore him and look at the Scottish man that was talking to Gus before. "Excuse me, but could you please tell me where Gus went." I ask

"He went to the office luv," he says giving me a small smile.

"OK, thanks," I sigh.

"What's wrong," Tig asks.

"My car wont start, it's been acting up for months." I say rubbing my forehead.

"You need a ride home?" he asks

"No, I'm just gonna walk. I just wanted to let Gus know that I was leaving my car here."

He looks at me and taps the table, "Come on," he says standing up from the counter.

"Come on where?" I ask confused.

"I'm taking you home," he says like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He then walks out the door.

I look over at the Scottish man in disbelief. Did he expect me to just follow? 

"You better go lass," he says smirking, "Tig don't like to be kept waiting."

I just nod and head to the door. When I get out side Tig is already on his bike waiting for me. "You don't have to take me home, I can walk." I say.

"Just get on," he says handing me his helmet. I grab his helmet and put it on. I get on behind him and he says, "You ready to go for a ride kid?"


	6. See You Around

I put my arms lightly around his waist which causes him to laugh. He grabs my hands and pulls me tighter against him. "You're gonna want to hold on tight kid. Don't want you to fall off now do we?" Thank goodness he can't see my face because I'm blushing like crazy. "So where am I going?" he asks and I give him the directions to my house.

As he starts his motor cycle I lean forward a bit, he smells like smoke, leather, and just a hint of grease. For some reason the combination just seems right for him, and intoxicating for me. He pulls out of the dinner's parking lot and on to the street. He takes the first turn sharply which causes me to hold onto him tighter. I'm not sure but I think he just laughed at me. We practically fly through town, it felt amazing. Every time he takes a turn I tighten my grip on him because I "don't want to fall off". I think the whole way to my house I had a permanent blush and smile plastered on my face.

As we pull onto my street he asks over his shoulder, "Which house is yours?"

"The one with the huge tree hanging over the sidewalk," I call over the sound of the engine.

He pulls into my driveway and turns the engine off. I reluctantly let go of his waist and get off his bike. As I stand next to him taking off his helmet he just stares at me. "Thank you for the ride." I say handing him the helmet.

"It was no problem," he shrugs.

"Do you want to come in for something to drink? It's kind of warm out." I say, I mean come on I don't want to be rude. Not to mention if he says yes I get a little extra time with him.

"I don't know, don't want to scare mommy and daddy." He says sarcastically.

"I don't think that's gonna be a problem," I say and just like that my good mood is gone. "Well thanks again for the ride." I say turning around to walk up to my house. 

I walk up my steps and am about to unlock my door when I hear foot steps behind me. I turn around and Tig is walking up to me. I look at him questioningly.

"What? You offered a drink," was all he said. 

I smile and open the door. I lead him through the house to the living room. "Make yourself at home," I say putting my bag beside my couch. "I have fresh lemonade, ice-tea, or water."

"Lemonade will be fine" he says looking around my living room.

"Ok," I say and walk to my kitchen. I'm kind of shocked he actually came in and I'm excited that I get to spend at least a little more time with him. I pull down two glasses from the cabinet and take out the lemonade pitcher from the refrigerator. I fill our glasses and walk back to living room. Tig is standing by the fireplace looking at the pictures on it. "Here you go," I say walking up to him.

"Thanks," he takes a sip of the lemonade and looks shocked.

"What is it too sour?" I ask tasting my own glass.

"No it's actually good" he says taking another sip.

"Thanks I guess," I say sitting down on the couch.

"This is a nice place you have here," he says looking around. "What do your parents do for a living?"

"My father was a lawyer and my mother was an ATF agent." I say looking down at my glass.

"Was?" he asks sounding confused.

"My parents died in a car accident about two years ago," I say tears starting to form in my eyes.

"Damn" I hear him mutter under his breath. "I'm sorry," he says sitting next to me.

"Thank you," I say looking up at him.

"So you don't have any other family that can stay with you?" he seems almost concerned.

"No, my grandparents passed away when I was 10, and my parents were only children."

"So you've had to take care of yourself these last couple years?" he questioned.

"No," I chuckle. "Gus and Ava have kind of adopted me. If I didn't have them I don't know where I would be."

"They're good people," he says almost to himself.

"You do realize ATF agents are asking about you," I blurt out. For some reason I just felt compelled to tell him. Sometimes I think my mouth speaks before my brain can think.

"How would you know that?" he asks his eyes going cold and his body has gotten tense.

"My mother's old partner and best friend showed up the day I met you." I say shrinking away from him. I know he won't hurt me, but that doesn't mean I'm any less scared. "She asked why you were at the dinner. And wants to know anytime you come back"

"What did you tell her," he asks and I can tell he is trying to keep calm.

"Nothing, besides I wouldn't tell her if I knew." I say starring him directly in his eyes. "I don't want anything to do with her. She is ruthless, lying, conniving, and a heartless bitch." I say with conviction. "All she does is use people, and I refuse to be her pawn."

"She say why she wants you watching out for us?"

"She just wants to know what you all are doing and saying in the diner," I say. "I'm not going to tell her anything I promise. I wouldn't do something like that."

"You realize how much trouble you'll get in for tipping us off?" I guess he believes me. His eyes are starting to soften, but he still looks tense.

"I don't care; she is a terrible person why would I help her?"

"We might be bad people, why would you help us?" He counters.

He was right; I don't even know him or his friends. They could be murderers and bank robbers for all I knew. Then again why would he have helped me that day with Kevin, or even today for that matter? He may be a stranger but I haven't felt this safe around anyone in a long time, and I don't even know him. I have this gut feeling that he would never intentionally hurt me. Then again most would just consider me young and naïve.

"You're not a bad person," I say

"You don't know that," he says leaning towards me. "You have no idea the things I do, things I have done." The whole time he is speaking he is getting closer and closer to me.

"I trust you," I whisper leaning towards him.

"Don't," he says so quietly I almost missed it. Our lips are just a breath apart and his phone rings. "Damn it," he mutters and backs away from me. He stands up and pulls his phone out of his pocket and walks to the window. "What," he speaks into his phone. "Alright I'll be right there." He says turning back to me. He closes his phone and puts it back into his pocket. "I have to go."

"Ok" I say disappointed that he has to leave. I get up and walk with him to the door.

"Thank you for the drink," he says standing outside the door.

"Thank you for the ride," I smile. "It was actually kind of amazing." I say which makes him laugh.

"Well I guess I'll see you around," he says turning and walking to his bike.

"Sure, see you around," I mutter starting to close the door.

"Hey Natalie," he calls out, causing me to look up at him. "There's now two reasons you owe me a thank you for."

"What do you mean two reasons I owe you?" I ask confused. He just smiles at me and starts his motor cycle. Before I could ask again he is taking off down the street. Man is he weird. As I close my door and walk back into my living room I realize he called me by my name.


	7. I Know A Place

" _Natalie, hurry up or we're going to be late. You know how your mother gets when she is hungry."_

" _I'm coming dad hold your horses," I laugh as I walk out of my room._

" _The reservations are for in 10 minutes and your mother is already at the restaurant," my dad said heading towards the door._

" _In this town it takes ten minutes to walk to the restaurant, I'm pretty sure we'll make it on time." I say sarcastically._

" _What's that saying you teenagers always say?" he asks handing me my coat. "Oh yes, whatever," he says while rolling his eyes making me laugh._

_We get in the car and pull out of the driveway. He turns on the radio and "It's the End of the World As We Know It" by REM is playing. We laugh as we try to keep up with lyrics of the song. Just before we reach the restaurant a truck cuts us off causing us to swerve to keep from hitting it._

" _Man some people should really learn how to drive," dad huffs straightening the car out. "You ok there sweetheart?" He asks glancing at me._

" _Ya, daddy I'm ok," I say not letting go of my death grip on the arm rest. He sees this so he reaches over and grabs my hand._

_"Its ok sweetheart, It was only a little mishap," he reassures me._

_A few minutes later we reach the restaurant, "Ok kiddo we're here." He says parking the car, "I can see your mom in the window waiting for us. Let's hurry because I'm pretty sure she has started without us," he says and we both start to laugh._

_We both walk into the restaurant and start to walk to where my mother is sitting. I didn't see the water on the floor so I slip and fall. When I hit the floor I hit my head pretty hard. My dad stands over me, "Natalie are you ok?" he asks worriedly._

" _Natalie"_

" _Natalie"_

"Natalie, wake up." Ava says shaking my shoulder. I was sleeping in one of the booths at the dinner. "Now I know it's a slow day today, but normally you don't fall asleep at work," she says looking worried. "Is something wrong sweetheart? Are you not sleeping well at home?"

"Huh, no I guess I'm just really tired today," I say rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Ava sighs and sits across from me. "Really Ava I'm alright." I say and she gives me that "I know your not telling me something" look.

"Ok, I guess I'll have to take your word for it," she says. "So your car broke down yesterday," and I can hear the "again" in her voice.

"Yes, I really need to get it fixed or get a new one," I sigh.

"You know, I know a place that can probably fix it," she says leaning close like its some kind of secret. "And if they can't we'll crush it and find you a new one."

"A new what?" Gus asks walking up to us.

"A new car, the one she has wouldn't stay running if you put a quarter in it," Ava said with a look of disgust. She really does hate my car for some reason.

"You know I know a place that can probably fix it," Gus says making Ava and I laugh. "What did I say?" He asked looking confused.

"I already told her that," Ava said kissing his cheek.

"So I heard Tig gave you a ride home yesterday," Gus says casually, man does he get straight to the point.

"Yes, he was nice enough to give me a ride home when my car broke down," I say. Hmm I wonder if this is the warning talk.

"You know you need to be careful with that one," he says with a stern look. Yep, I was right. "Now don't get me wrong, I trust him. I just don't trust him with you." He says and Ava sighs. Just then a couple walked in, "I'll take them you two enjoy your break." Gus winks at us and walks over to the couple. He loves talking to anyone who comes into the dinner.

Ava stares at me for a second, "You know he's right, you should be careful with Tig," she begins. "Since you are young and practically our daughter we just want you to be safe. Tig and the rest of the guys, even Gemma is from a totally different world from yours baby girl. Now you are old enough to make your own decisions we just want you to be careful."

"I will, I promise," I say looking her directly in her eyes. "He just gave me a ride home that was all. Nothing happened."

"Ok," she says after looking at me for a few moments. "So how was it to ride with him?" She asks out of the blue making me laugh a little.

"It was amazing," I smile and she laughs giving me that knowing look. I looked down at my watch and noticed that it was 2:00 pm and I hadn't seen Mr. Gregory yet. Come to think of it he didn't come in yesterday either. "Ava have you seen Mr. Gregory around? He hasn't been in the last two days."

"Oh, sweetheart you didn't hear? He had to head up to the hospital in Charming for a surgery," she says patting my hand.

"No I hadn't heard. How long is he going to be there?"

"About a week or so if the surgery goes well," she says getting up. All of a sudden she gets really still, and looks to be deep in thought, "You know, we can take your car to the place I was telling you about and you can go see him if you want?"

"How are we going to do that?" I question.

"The place I was talking about is in Charming, so you can visit Mr. Gregory who I am sure would love to see you, and Gus and I will take care of that thing you call a car." She says walking into the kitchen.

Hmm sounds like a plan. I really do want to see Mr. Gregory, he and I have become so close these last years. I just wonder why he didn't say anything about him needing surgery. I hope it's nothing too major. I also just hope that wherever they are taking my car can fix it. It may break down a lot but my parents bought it for me and I want to keep it for however long I can. As I was thinking Ava had come back from the kitchen.

"So I talked to Gus and we are going to close down the diner tomorrow and head over to charming," she says sitting back down across from me. "We'll have your car towed tonight, and we will pick you up in the morning. We can drop you off at the hospital, and then go check on your car. How's that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan. Thank you both so much."

"It's no problem, we can't let you continue driving that death trap the way it is now can we?" She says winking at me. "Now get back to work so I don't have to fire you," she says trying to sound stern making both of us laugh.

I got up from the booth, stretched a little, and made my way to the kitchen. Just as I was walking through the door Gus was getting ready to ring his bell that lets me know when an order is ready. "Ah, Nat tell me are you psychic?" He questions raising one eyebrow.

"Yes, and the oven timer is about to go off." I say with a straight face as the timer went off.

"How do you do it?" he laughs.

"I don't know it's a gift," I say placing the order on a tray.

"So tomorrow we are going on a little trip huh?"

"Yep, thank you by the way." I say

"It's no problem, gotta keep our girl safe." He says taking a tray of cookies from the oven. I wonder when he made those.

"Well I appreciate it anyways." I say walking out of the kitchen. For some reason I think tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day.


	8. I'm Gonna Look After You Now

"Ok Natalie we'll be back in an hour," Ava says leaning out of the car window. We had just arrived at the hospital in Charming after a two hour drive. A very long two hours where Gus decided he had to sing every road song he knew. Apparently he didn't even make it through half of them; I just can't wait for the drive home.

"Ok see you then," I say turning to walk into the hospital. I ask a lady down stairs which room Mr. Gregory is in, and then head over to the elevator. I push the button and wait for the elevator to arrive. While I'm waiting I look down at the bouquet of flowers I had picked out from the store on my way to the dinner this morning. They were pretty a mixture of daisies, lilies, babies breath, and carnations. They were a mixture of yellow, orange and pink colors. Finally the elevator arrives and I step on.

"Wait a second hold the elevator," a woman calls out before the doors close. I quickly push the button that holds the doors open. The woman runs into the elevator. "Thanks" she says turning to look at me. "Hey, you're that waitress at Gus's diner." She states.

"Yes," I say noticing that she is the woman who was in the accident.

"I'm Gemma, we didn't exactly meet the other day," she says holding her hand out.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Natalie," I say shaking her hand.

"So what brings you here?" she asks

"A close friend of mine is having a surgery done here, so I'm visiting him." I tell her.

"Sorry to hear that, your friend needing surgery I mean," she says as the elevator doors opens. "Looks like this is my stop."

"It was nice meeting you," I say as she walks off the elevator.

"Nice meeting you too," she calls out as the doors close.

A moment later I arrive at the right floor and make my own exit off of the elevator. I walk over to the desk and confirm Mr. Gregory's room number. As I walk into the room I can see him propped up on his bed doing a crossword puzzle.

"Knock, knock," I say as I tap on his door which causes him to look up at me.

"Natalie my dear what a splendid surprise," he says while putting his crossword down in his lap.

"I heard that you were having surgery done and thought you might like a visitor," I say sitting down in the chair that is next to his bed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry, its nothing major," he says in that grandfatherly tone.

"Ok, I promise not to pry, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to worry." I smile at him. "These are for you," I say handing him the flowers.

"Well aren't these beautiful, thank you."

"I thought you might like something pretty and bright to make your room more cheery," I say and he smiles. "So what's your crossword about?"

For the next hour we worked on crosswords and talked. He told me that he was having surgery done on his heart. His surgery is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Before I knew it a nurse came in and said that Mr. Gregory needs to rest.

"Thank you for visiting," Mr. Gregory says as I lean down to give him a hug.

"The pleasure was all mine," I say walking towards the door. "I will come and see you after your surgery."

"Alright dear take care," he says and gives me a wave.

I take the elevator down and walk outside. As I get ready to get my cell phone out to call Ava, Gemma walks up to me. She was sitting on a bench smoking. "Ava called me a little bit ago and asked if I could give you a ride to the garage."

"Oh, alright," I say and follow her to her car.

"So how is your friend doing?" She asks unlocking the doors.

"He's doing alright," I pause so I can get in and close the car door. "He's having surgery done on his heart."

"Wow, I hope everything goes well for him."

"So do I."

"Ava told me she kind of adopted you," she says as she pulls out of the hospital parking lot.

"Yes she and Gus have become the major parental figures in my life. They've taken care of me these last couple years."

"Ava told me about your parents," she says her voice full of sympathy, "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I'm slowly learning how to live with out them," I say looking towards her. "It hurts, but I know they would want me to live and not get stuck in my grief."

"How old are you sweet heart?"

"I am 19; I turn 20 in a couple months."

"You are tough for someone so young," she states.

"Well now days don't you have to be? I mean you can't let the world walk all over you. If you do you can never live a full life," I ramble.

"You sure your only 19," she laughs.

"Yes," I laugh back.

"Alright we are almost to the garage, I want you to stick with me when we get there," she says.

"Yes mam"

"I'm only gonna tell you this once baby girl," she says looking me in the eyes because we are stopped at a red light. "It's Gemma, not mam, not Mrs. Morrow, not anything else, just Gemma. You got it?"

"Yes, Gemma," I say and she smiles at me in return.

After five minutes of making fun of Gus's road songs we arrived at the garage. When we pulled in I noticed the line of motor cycles that were in the parking lot. "Let's go into the office, we can wait for Ava and Gus in there," Gemma says as we get out of her car.

"They aren't here?" I question

"No they had to go run an errand real fast," she says leading me into the office. We walk inside and there is a desk filled with paper work, it looks like a tornado blew through.

"Do you need some help with this," I ask glancing around the room.

"You any good with filing?"

"Ava has been teaching me, I'm pretty good at it," I say proudly.

"Alright, maybe with your help I'll be able to find something in here." As she is talking I look out the window. There are a group of men coming out of the building that is next to the garage. They look like the same group of bikers that came to the diner to pick Gemma up."Hmm I guess their done with church."

"Church?" I ask confused, isn't it a Wednesday?

"It means they had a club meeting," she tells me and hands me a stack of files.

"Hey babe where's that paperwork on that Chevy Camero that came in last night?" Clay asks walking into the room. He stops and stares at me almost as if he is confused to why I am there.

"Give me a sec and I'll find it," she says as she goes through the papers on her desk. "Here it belongs to Ava and Gus's friend." She stops and notices him starring. "This is Natalie; she works at Ava and Gus's diner."

"I know, what is she doing here." He doesn't seem too happy to see me.

"Ava and Gus brought me to see a friend of mine that is in the hospital." I say in a shaky voice. "The Camero is also mine."

Clay just glares at me; I wonder what I have done to upset him. "What's going on?" Gemma asks looking between Clay and me.

"What's going on? She's been talking to an ATF agent about us," he practically growls.

"What do you mean?" Gemma questions him.

"An ATF agent has been asking her questions about us, Tig told me," he says looking at Gemma. "Get her out of here, I don't need this."

"I'm not talking to any ATF agents; it was one time and I told her I wouldn't help her." I begin.

"I don't care you're a liability," he says. "Get away from my garage." When I didn't move he yelled, "Now!" making me jump and run out of the office.

I ran as fast as I could not paying attention to where I was going. He scared me more than anyone I had ever met at this moment. I had to stop when I felt out of breath, and felt a stitch in my side. I walk over to a tree and sit under the shade. I have no idea where I am, or how I am going to get home. It felt like everything is too much and I just start to cry. Lately I only cry when I'm sleeping, and now that I'm awake I don't know if I am able to make the tears stop. It's at moments like this where I miss my mom and dad. I could call them or just even get a hug to know that everything would be alright and no one would hurt me. Right now I feel lost in more ways than one. I guess I'm not as tough as I thought I was.

I am so oblivious that I only realized someone was sitting next to me when I felt their arms go around me. I look up and see Gemma. She is hugging me and smoothing my hair. "It's alright baby girl," she says as she sooths me.

I cry for a few minutes longer holding on to her. "What did I do?" is the only thing I am able to say.

"You didn't do anything wrong sweet heart," she says pushing the hair out of my face. "After you ran out Tig came in the office to find out what happened. You ran right past him on your way out. He and I both let Clay have it. Clay is just trying to protect the club, his family. He didn't intentionally mean to hurt you." I look at her skeptically which makes her laugh. "Really, now come on he says you can come back to the garage," as she says this she rolls her eyes.

"Ok," I say timidly. She wipes my eyes and leads me to her car. As we drive back to the garage we both stay quiet. Gemma parks her car and gets out, but I just stay sitting. I don't really want to be yelled at or humiliated again. Gemma looks back at me when she notices I'm not following her. She walks over to the passenger side door and opens it.

"Come on baby girl, I promise I won't let him yell at you this time," she says earnestly. I unbuckle the seat belt and get out of the car; she closes the door behind me. We walk into the office and Clay and Tig are inside. Clay is sitting at Gemma's desk and Tig standing looking out the window. I take a step backwards out the door, but Gemma grabs my hand and tugs me inside the office and closes the door.

"Look," Clay begins, "I got a little carried away. I'm just trying to protect my family." I don't speak because I don't want to make him mad again so I just nod. I look at Gemma and she smiles back at me. "So as an apology, me and Tig are personally gonna fix your car."

I looked at him then at Tig, I couldn't help the small smile that's forming on my face when I look at him. He just gives me that irritating smirk and nods his head. "Thank you," I say looking back at Clay. He just nods at me. He gets up and walks out of the office. Gemma follows him mumbling something about checking up on the repo list, leaving me and Tig alone.

"You ok over there kid?" he asks

"Yes," I say quietly looking over at him.

He stares directly into my eyes as if he is trying to see into me. Slowly I can see him walk towards me never breaking eye contact. "You sure cuz you look like you've been crying," he says lifting his hand and rubbing the back of it along my cheek.

For a moment I forget how to breathe. I lean my head into his hand, "I'm fine now I was just scared." I whisper looking down breaking our eye contact.

He gently grabs my chin which makes me look back up to him. "Don't worry I'm gonna look after you now. You don't need to be scared," he says. He leans down and gently places a kiss on my lips.


	9. You Got A Problem Here?

He leans back up and just stares into my eyes. I'm having some problems breathing and I can feel my face heating up. I don't think I could even form a coherent sentence at the moment. "God I love it when you blush," he laughs going back to running his hand along my cheek.

"Ok so you're going to help with the filing," Gemma says opening the office door. We look over at her as she stops to stare at us. "Hmmm, like I wouldn't see this coming," she laughs.

"Ya right," Tig says turning to her dropping his hand.

"Yes I'm always right. If it didn't happen now, it would have happened sooner or later," she stated. "Besides it takes someone pretty damn special to make you run in and yell at Clay."

"I didn't yell. I strongly voiced my opinion."

"Strongly voiced your opinion my ass," she huffs as she walks behind her desk.

Tig just laughs and looks back at me. The entire time their banter was going on I have been standing here looking back and forth between them. "Well I got to get goin; Clay and I are taking a look at a certain car." He leans down kisses my cheek then walks out of the office. All I can seem to do is blush and stare after him.

"You got it bad baby girl," Gemma laughs gathering a stack of papers. "Here come help me sort this mess out."

For the last four hours Gemma and I have been sorting through paperwork and helping the customers that have come into the office. It's getting late and Gus and Ava still haven't come back to the garage. I hope that whatever they are doing they are alright.

"That damn car is a death trap," Clay says as he walks into the office.

"It's that bad?" I question

"Sweetheart I don't even know where to begin on that thing," he says going over to Gemma and kissing her cheek.

"So you can't fix it at all?"

"My advice would be to buy a new one."

"Ava and Gus said you are the best," I begin sounding sad even to my ears. "If you can't fix it then I guess I'll have to find a new car then."

"Sorry, but yes," he says staring at me. "Why did you keep it so long in the first place?"

"My parents bought it for me," I say simply.

"Did you make them mad or something?"

"No," I laugh. "My dad said he wasn't going to buy a new driver a new car. He said that if I damaged this one he wouldn't have to pay a lot of money to get it fixed."

"Smart man."

"Did you tell her?" Tig asks coming into the office wiping his hands on a rag. Clay nods his head in confirmation. "Sorry kid."

"If it can't be fixed, then it can't be fixed," I shrug even though I'm a little depressed over it. "And I have a name you know Creepy."

"Creepy?" Gemma asks laughing a little.

"When he doesn't call me by my name I won't call him by his name, so I call him creepy," I smile. "It fits him right?"

"You got that right," Clay laughs which shocks me. "Creepy, hmf"

"You didn't complain when I called you kid earlier," Tig states walking up to stand directly in front of me.

"This is the first time you called me kid today," I answer confused.

"Nope," he smirks. "Remember when you got back to the office," I nod my head yes. "I called you kid not long before I kissed you." Oh my gosh he's right, and I just start to blush up a storm. My blushing also triggers the other three to laugh.

"Alright leave the girl alone," Gemma cuts in.

"So does anyone know when Ava and Gus will be back?" I ask starting a new subject.

"What tired of us already?" Tig asks

"No I'm having fun hanging out with Gemma. You on the other hand I can only handle you in small doses," I say back with a straight face making Gemma laugh.

"Oooo, looks like the girl has some spunk," Clay laughs as a knock is heard on the door. "It's open," he calls out.

"Hey ya'll," Ava says as she and Gus open the door. "I hope you haven't been corrupting our Natalie."

"What? No I promised you would get her back in the same shape I found her in," Gemma laughs.

"That's good, cuz we like her the exact way she is," Gus says while practically staring Tig down. I guess he doesn't like how close Tig is standing next to me.

"Why would we want to change her?" Tig asks glaring at Gus for making such an assumption.

"You got a problem here guys?" Clay interrupts.

"Yes we do," Gus answers not backing down. "He needs to get the hell away from my daughter."

"Oh I do, do I," Tig says moving to where I am standing behind him.

"Come on guys knock it off," Ava says standing between the two glaring men.

"He's the one that has the problem, not me," Tig growls out. I can feel the tension rising in the room. I step closer to Tig and put my hand on his back. He glances back at me which was probably a bad thing because next thing we know Gus punches Tig. This makes him stumble back into me before he pulls himself together and rushes at Gus. The two of them end up outside the office in a heap.

Ava, Gemma, Clay, and I rush outside. Tig and Gus kept punching and pushing at the other. Jax and the Scottish man who earlier in the day I learned was named Chibs ran over and pulled the two apart.

"Easy," Chibs told Gus as he pulled him further away from Tig.

"What the hell is wrong with you," Jax yells at Tig.

Ava runs over to Gus and helps Chibs take him further out into the parking lot. I run over to the garage where Jax and Clay pulled Tig. As I walk into the garage I see Jax shove Tig onto a stool. "Doll you probably don't want to be in here right now," Jax tells me as I walk closer.

I ignore his warning and walk up to Tig. He looks up at me as I get closer to him. He looks as if he's preparing himself for me to yell at him. I can see the cut above his eye, his cheek is bleeding, he has a split lip, and his jaw is bruising. When I reach him I kneel down and trace the cuts and bruises on his face gently with my fingertips. "Are you ok?" I quietly ask.

"I'm good," he says capturing my hand. "You didn't get hurt when I fell into you did you?"

"I'm fine just worried about you," I say honestly. "I don't want you and Gus to fight."

"I'll fight anyone who gets in my way to you," he says and pulls me up to sit in his lap. As he is holding me close Ava and Gemma walk into the garage.

"I hate to tare you apart," Ava says giving me the, we are going to have a little heart to heart look, "but we have to get going."

I look at Tig then back to Ava. "Can you give me a couple minutes?"

"You have three, you better make them good," she winks at me as Gemma ushers Clay and Jax to the parking lot.

I can feel Tigs arm tighten around me. I look back to him and can see a sort of longing in his eyes. I don't think many people get to see this gentler side. I lean down and gently kiss him careful of his split lip. He gently reaches up and cradles my face before I hear a hiss. I pull back to see if he is ok.

"Are you alright," I ask.

"I'm great," he actually smiles at me.

"Let me see your phone."

"My phone, why? Don't you have one of your own?" He asks looking confused and amused at the same time.

"Yes your phone," I say taking it after he pulls it from his pocket. I program my number and hand it back to him. "Here now you can call me."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Fine I'll just delete it," I say reaching for his phone.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," he say putting his phone in his pocket. "I have to check up on you somehow."

"Oh so now you’re gonna check up on me," I laugh.

"Well you can't expect me not to check to see if my girl's alright," he says looking serious.

"Your girl, is that what I am?"

"Ya, my girl," he says. "Looks like I'm gonna have to take you out on a date now." I couldn't help but laugh. For some reason I don't see Tig as a going out to eat date night type of guy. "You think I'm joking, but I'm not."

I smile and lean down and kiss him again. "Alright you two, times up," Gemma says as she walks into the garage.

Both Tig and I sigh and get up to follow her out to the parking lot. I can see Gus and Ava standing by their car laughing at something Jax and Chibs were telling them. As we approach them Gus looks over at Tig and Tig just looks back. It looks like Gus is going to have a black eye, and that's about it. As we come to stand in front of Gus the two just stare at the other. Then Gus gives a half smile and the two give each other the one armed man hug. Gus said something to Tig but I couldn't hear what. All I know is that both were smiling when they pull apart.

"Alright ladies we gota get moving," Gus says getting in the car.

Ava hugs the guys then Gemma and gets in the car. Jax and Chibs nod at me, and Gemma hugs me and promises to give me a call saying we have to go shopping soon. Finally Tig leans down and whispers that he'll see me soon and kisses my cheek. I smile and get into the car. Gus wasted no time in getting us on the highway towards home.

After 30 minutes of silence and looking out the window Ava asks, "How is Mr. Gregory doing?"

"His surgery is tomorrow," I answer.

"Oh my, I hope he'll be alright," she says.

"So you and Tig huh," once again Gus gets straight to the point.

"Yes"

"Just remember to be careful," he says and quickly glances back at me. "If he ever does anything to hurt you, you need to tell me. Because if he does ever hurt you, he will be a dead man."

"Ok," I say and can feel tears in my eyes. He really does feel like my dad at this moment. I have missed having a family and didn't really realize that I still had one all along. They can’t ever replace my parents, but they are always there when I need them. I'm not going to take them for granted ever again.

"So how about we go and see Mr. Gregory tomorrow after his surgery," Ava says breaking me from my thoughts.

"I think that's a great idea, maybe I can bring him that new dish I came up with," Gus said all excited.

"Um I think that would be better as a welcome back lunch when he is all better and back at home," Ava added quickly looking back at me.

"Your right," Gus said with a thoughtful look. "I'll think of something."

For the rest of the ride home Gus finished singing the other half of his traveling songs, with a promise of an encore performance.


	10. I like You Anywys

"I'm so sorry sweetheart we got here this morning and the place was flooded," Ava says over the phone. "A pipe must have broken and someone won't be here till 3 to fix it. So we won't be able to go see Mr. Gregory today."

"I totally understand, besides his surgery is this afternoon so he probably won't be up to seeing visitors yet."

"Alright, well I guess we'll just keep the diner closed for the next couple days so enjoy your vacation," Ava laughs.

"Will do, take care," I say and hang up. Wow the next couple days at home with nothing to do. This should be fun. I change out of my pajamas into a pair of short dark blue jean shorts and a hot pink tank top. I leave my hair down and don't even bother with shoes. It's the perfect outfit to do nothing in. I don't have to clean the house because, it's already spotless. I guess it's a day of talk shows, I wonder who's on the View today?

"Dude your wife is so cheating on you with your father," I say to the tv. Yes I am watching a soap opera, who knew these things could be so addicting. I'm lying on my couch with a glass of ice tea next to me and I'm munching on some carrots. "She only wants you for your money, come on man."

_Knock_

_Knock_

"Don't listen to her she's lying," I say to the t.v as I get up to answer the door. I semi run to the door, I hope who ever it is talks fast cuz I gotta see what happens. I open the door and June is standing there. I slam the door and holler out, "Go away or I'll call the cops."

"Come on Natalie, I just want to talk," she calls out.

"I don't want anything to do with you," I yell getting angry. "If you're not off of my property in two minutes then I'm calling the police and telling them that you are harassing me."

"Natalie I just want to catch up, come on open the door."

"Catch up my ass, go away now," I yell.

"If you don't talk to me now I'll just find you and talk to you somewhere else," she threatens. "Now open the door, you wouldn't want anyone to see me standing out here, it might get back to your little biker friends."

"That's it I'm calling the cops."

I wait a couple minutes and I don't here anything so I walk back to the living room to pick up my carrots and glass to put in the kitchen. As I am putting my glass in the sink I hear knocking again. So I storm over to the door and fling it open saying, "I told you I'll call the cops if"

"Call the cops on who?" Tig asks.

"What are you doing here?" I ask shocked and happy to see him.

"A couple of us came up to help Gus fix the pipe that blew."

"I thought you all were mechanics not plumbers." I say letting him come inside. He follows me into the living room and raises his eyebrow when he sees the soap opera on the television. "It's the only thing that's on," I laugh.

"Hmm. And yes we are mechanics but we should be able to fix a pipe," he says seriously.

"Sure," I laugh. "I guess that's why Ava called a plumber."

"Whatever," he says sitting down on the couch. "So who were you going to call the cops on?"

"No one," I say sitting down not looking at him.

"Come on I can't protect you if you don't tell me the truth," he says lifting my chin so I can look him in the eyes.

"June was here again," I sigh and can see his eyes hardening and he drops his hand. "I wouldn't let her in and she just wouldn't go away, I threatened to call the cops 3 times before she left."

"Are you ok," he asks

"I'm fine," I honestly say. "I just hate that she thinks she can just drop by."

"What kind of security system do you have?" he asks

"Security system?"

"Do you have a security system installed; hell do you even own a dog?" He asks

"My dad had a system installed, if anyone tries to break in it will go off," as I talk he nods his head. "So how come you're here and not helping the others fix the pipe," I ask.

"Do you want me to go?" he asks starting to stand up.

"No, I'm just curious." I laugh and tug him back to sitting next to me.

"I wanted to see you plus I have no clue how to fix a pipe." He says and I laugh. "So is this what you usually do when you're off of work?"

"No, normally I clean and run errands, but I already did that the other day," I say looking over at the t.v. "No I missed the ending, I hope he didn't buy into that stupid lie."

"What in the world are you talking about?" He laughed.

"Nothing just the soap opera that was on before this one," I sigh. I look over at him and can see the bruise on his jaw isn't too bad, and the cuts are already starting to heal. "You face looks better today," I say and trace his jaw with my finger tips. "Does it hurt?"

"What hurt?" he asks quietly.

"Your face," I smile.

"I hope you mean about the cuts and bruise, and not my looks."

I just laugh, "Nah the cuts and bruises don't look so bad, but your looks."

"I see how it is, you only want me for my bike," he pretends to look hurt.

"You caught me," I laugh and kiss his cheek. "No I happen to like the way you look very much."

"Well that's good," he says and sits back on the couch getting comfortable.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"I know they call you Tig," I begin and it looks like I've captured his interest. "What's your real name?"

"You know you're the first person in a long time to ask me that." He says and tugs me against him so I am curled against him with my head on his shoulder.

"Really?" I ask looking up at him.

"I'm not really around other women long enough to exchange names," he says quietly.

"So what is your name," I ask not liking the idea of him being with someone else.

"Alex," he says and looks down at me.

"Hmm Alex I like it."

"I don't care if you call me that when we're alone, but just don't call me it around other people." He says seriously.

"I promise. I wouldn't want to ruin your tough reputation," I say sarcastically, and he laughs.

"Ok so what are we watching?" he asks picking the remote up off of the floor where I had it earlier.

"I have no idea. You can change it if you want."

He changed the channel to the Discovery channel and we watched some show about sharks. About half way through I started to doze off. Who knew that a boring day could make a person so tired?

I wake up and my pillow is moving. It's also not as soft as I remember it to be. Slowly I open my eyes and see that Tig is asleep and I am kind of lying on him. I gently get up off of him and stand next to the couch. He looks so much different while he sleeps. Normally he looks like he has to carry the world, but he looks really at ease right now. I can't help but smile.

_Knock_

_Knock_

_Knock_

I go to the door quickly because I don't want who ever it is to wake up Tig. I open the door and its June again. "Go away," I tell her.

"Look I told you earlier I just wanted to talk," she says trying to look behind me. "So you're keeping company with scum now. Your parents would be so disappointed," she taunts.

"He's a good man, you're the scum. Get the hell away from me and don't come back," I say trying to keep from yelling at her. How dare she, she has no clue who he is to judge him.

"I'm the scum," she laughs. "Look here sweetheart, you want to find out about how good and decent he is? Take a look at these and then we'll talk." She hands me a folder and turns and walk away.

I stand at the door for a minute to watch her get into her car and drive away. As I close the door and turn around I see Tig standing behind me. I slowly walk up to him, reach up and place a kiss on his cheek, hand him the folder, and walk into the living room. He follows behind me and stays standing as I sit back down on the couch. "Did you hear everything?" I ask

"Ya, you gonna look at what's in here," he says holding up the folder.

"No, I told you before I trust you," I make sure that I am looking into his eyes so he knows that I am telling him the truth. "I don't need to see what's in there unless you want me to. I want you for who you are, I don't care about what you do. As far as I'm concerned you're a mechanic, and belong to a motor cycle club. When and if you ever want to tell me anything is up to you."

"You sure," he asks looking skeptical.

"I'm positive, now do you mind if we order in some food because I am starving." I say dramatically. After saying this he looks at me almost relieved.

"Sure babe," he smirks and sits next to me.

"Oh so its babe now is it," I laugh trying to lighten the mood. "Do I look like a pig going to the big city?" He just laughs; I love it when he laughs and smiles. "So pizza sound good?"

"Sounds great."

I pick my cell phone up off of the coffee table and call the pizza place. "What do you want on your half?"

"Pepperoni is good."

"Hi," I say to the person over the phone. "Can I get a large pizza half pepperoni and the other half chicken and bell peppers? Ok thank you," I say and hang up. I look over at Tig and he has a weird look on his face. "What?"

"You want chicken and bell peppers?"

"Yep it's my favorite, not to mention left over cold pizza is the best." I say completely serious.

"You are so weird," he shakes his head at me.

"I'm weird?" I ask. I think he must be mistaken I think I'm quite normal.

"Yep, but that's ok I like you anyways."

"Whatever you dork." I laugh at him and stand up. I walk over to the window and look outside. A wind started up as we napped earlier, I love watching trees blowing in the wind. As I am looking outside I see a motor cycle pulling up in my drive way. "I think one of your friends is here," I say turning back to Tig. He gets up and stands next to me in front of the window. Sure enough Jax is walking up to the house, so Tig and I head to the door. I don't know what it is but I have a bad feeling that something is about to happen.


	11. I Love The Wind

Together Tig and I went to the door to let Jax in. I let Tig open the door and an upset Jax was standing there.

"What is the point of having a cell phone if you don't answer it when someone fucking calls?" Jax growls out.

"Hi honey nice to see you too," Tig says sarcastically. "I didn't hear it ring," Tig pulls out his phone from his pocket, "it's dead. Sorry man what I miss?"

"Uh, I don't mean to interrupt," I say looking at the two of them, "but due to my unwelcome past visitors I think you guys should take this conversation inside."

"She's right," Tig agrees. "Come on in Jax."

Tig and Jax follow me into the living room. Tig and I sit on the couch and Jax sits in the chair next to it. "If you don't mind me asking," I say looking at Jax. "How did you find my house?"

"I asked Ava," he says. "If the shit that I have to say wasn't important she never would have told me."

"Ok," I say. I think that's my cue to leave so they can talk. "Can I get you something to drink Jax? The pizza will be here any minute you're more than welcome to stay."

"Thanks doll," he smiles. "I'll drink what ever you have."

"Alright, Tig what would you like to drink."

"Anything will be great babe," he says and I get up and walk into the kitchen.

I reach up into the cabinet and pull down three plates. I also pull down three glasses. While I'm pouring the fresh lemonade into the glasses I hear the other two's conversation raise a little.

"They fucked up the deal?" I heard Tig almost yell.

"Shut up," Jax said equally loud. They then went back to their hushed conversation.

_Knock_

_Knock_

_Knock_

"It's probably the pizza guy," I say as I walk out of the kitchen, and towards the door.

"Given your track record of visitors you've had today, I'll answer the door." Tig gets up off of the couch and follows me. He opens the door and sure enough it's the pizza guy. "How much do I owe ya?" Tig growls. The guy actually started to shake. I couldn't help but laugh a little, as he stood there unable to speak. "Well?" Tig growled again.

"Tig you're scaring the poor guy," I say and step up next to him. "How much do we owe you?" I say and make sure to smile at him.

"15, aaaannd that innncludes the tip," the poor thing stutters out.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" Tig growls and takes the money out of his wallet. He hands it over to the kid, "Keep the change," Tig says handing over a twenty. The guy hands over the pizza box. "Have a good night," Tig says and smiles. I swear the guy is about to faint. I couldn't contain my laughter as we closed the door.

"You probably scarred him for life," I laugh.

"I would never do something that horrible," Tig says and Jax raises and eyebrow at him.

"Let me go get the plates and glasses," I laugh walking into the kitchen.

"Wow this place is big," I turn around and see Tig behind me. "Thought you could use some help, you shouldn't have to be a waitress at home," he says to my questioning stare.

"Well thank you very much," I say and hand him the plates with napkins on top of them, and a glass. I take the other two glasses and walk up to him. I motion for him to lean down so I can give him a small kiss, after all his gesture was extremely sweet.

We walk into the living room and I hand Jax a glass. Tig and I sat down on the couch and he put the plates next to the pizza box on the coffee table. Tig opens the box and Jax laughs at the order. They both reach in and grab a slice and move to sit back.

"Sorry I don't want to sound bitchy, but the plates go under the pizza to keep the crumbs or sauce from falling on the furniture. I didn't bring them out because the coffee table was lacking in decoration."

"Sorry," they both mumbled and picked up a plate.

"Thank you," I reply putting two slices on my plate and sitting back. I'm actually kind of shocked that Jax is eating from my half. "Can I ask you both a question?" Both men nod their heads at me. "I've known Gus and Ava for more than two years almost, how come I've only met you all now? Obviously you all know Gus and Ava pretty well."

"You wanna take this one?" Jax asks Tig.

Tig looks at me, "I can't say anything but we're old friends. They would come and see us. Lately we've had the desire to take a nice ride and see them."

I look back and forth between Tig and Jax. "Ok," I say and now Jax is giving me a skeptical look. "I'm not going to pry if that's what you're waiting for." I tell him.

"Got yourself a keeper," Jax tells Tig who is smirking at him. "So my mom found out we know where you live," Jax says looking at me smiling. "She also knows you're on vacation the next couple of days."

"And?" I question him.

"She says to be ready bright and early you're going shopping," he says and both him and Tig start to laugh.

"How early are we talking?" I ask him.

He takes a moment to consider, "To be on the safe side, I would say be ready to leave by 8:30, maybe 9:00. You should feel honored."

"Really?" I ask.

"Sweetheart she don't take just anyone shopping. She likes you, and if she like you, your life will be so much easier," Jax says completely serious.

It's been an hour and a half since our conversation. The pizza box has been thrown out; they managed to finish off the pizza, and the dishes in the sink. I'll just do them later. I am currently curled up next to Tig on the couch while he and Jax watch some boxing match. I hear my phone ring on the coffee table, Tig reaches over, picks it up and hands it to me.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nat," I hear Ava's voice through the phone. "Is Jax and Tig still there?"

"Ya they're right here," I answer. "Do you want to talk to one of them?"

"Can you hand your phone to Jax please sweetheart?" I can hear the false pleasantness in her voice.

"Sure," I say and hand my phone to Jax. "Ava wants to talk to you."

"Hey Ava," Jax says into the phone. "What?" He starts to laugh. "Ok, ok, we'll be there in 10. By Ava," he says and hangs up putting the phone back on the table. "We gotta go brother before Ava kills Gus, Bobby, Juice, and the Prospect. Apparently they cancelled the plumber."

Even I know that cant be good and things aren't going to end pretty for those four. Tig laughs and we all get up and walk to the door. We open it and the wind has picked up, it's blowing so hard I'm worried for them because they are going to drive in it. If it's moving the cars thinking about them on bikes is scary. Jax kisses my cheek and thanks me for dinner. As he walks to his bike Tig turns to me and wraps me in his arms.

"What are you doing Saturday night?" He asks over the wind.

"Nothing," I say.

"How about we go on that date?" He asks leaning back slightly so I can look up at him.

"Sounds like a plan," I smile. He leans down and kisses me. After a few moments of heaven for me he gives me another hug and turns and walks to his bike. A few moments later both him, and Jax are heading down the street away from my house. I go back inside and head to the kitchen. Might as well take care of those dishes now rather than wait till later. It feels almost lonely now that I'm here by myself again.

By 10:30 I'm exhausted so I change into some pajamas and head for bed. I also made sure to double check the alarm. As I am getting under the cover I listen to the wind. It's almost a comforting sound, and it lulls me to sleep.

_Bang_ , I wake up to a branch hitting the window upstairs. I look over at my alarm clock and see its only 3:00 in the morning. As I get all cozy again I hear a crashing noise, I think the window just broke. That's just great, exactly what I need right now. I get up out of my cozy bed to go check on which window broke. I try to turn on the light but the power is out, this is just fantastic. I grab the broom and dust pan on my way up stairs. I'm half way up and there is a thud. I stop and listen.

"You sure this is the right place?" A voice asks.

"Ya saw them leave from here earlier myself," another voice answers. "We get the stuff, and leave."

I stopped listening to them and quietly made my way back to my room. I pick up my cell phone to call 911 only to see that my phone is dead. I had put it on the charger, but when the power went off my phone didn't charge. This is great; I have to get out of here maybe I can make it to the back door. Before I can move I hear footsteps coming down the stairs, the only place I can hide is under the bed, I'm barely small enough to fit under it. As I get my feet under the bed my bedroom door opens.

"You said it was here," the first voice accused.

"The stuff is here, it has to be," the second voice answers.

I'm trying to keep quiet so they don't see me. I realize my breathing is starting to get loud so I cover my nose and mouth with my hand. Please God don't let them find me. The room gets quiet both men stopped talking and walking. As I move my hand away from my mouth someone grabs my foot and pulls me out from under the bed. This causes me to scream.

"Shut the fuck up," the first voice said. I have no idea what they look like because they are wearing black ski masks. "Where's the stuff you're hiding for the Son's?"

"What stuff I have no idea what you're talking about," I say trying to keep from crying. The other guy has hold of both of my arms and is standing behind me. He keeps tightening his grip on my arms.

"The guns where are they?" voice one yells at me.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, please just let me go."

"She's lying," voice two yells and shakes me. "I followed them here. They were here for hours, she knows something."

"I promise I don't know…."

"Shut up," two yells at me.

"Bring her with us," one says. "If she don't know we'll use her to get someone who does know. Either way we're getting those guns"

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I yell starting to struggle. I break my left arm free and swing it at the guy. I then stomp on his foot and break away from him. As I make a run to the door one grabs me by the hair as I try and run past him. I start to struggle against him. I didn't even see two right himself before he punches me twice in the face causing my world to go black.


	12. Go Find Your Girl

My head feels like it has been split open, where am I? I am lying on a concrete floor somewhere with my hands tied behind my back. As I open my eyes, I can't see anything. The room is pitch black, I must be in the middle of the room.

What happened? I remember Tig and Jax leaving, doing the dishes, watching t.v, going to bed and waking up because of the window breaking. Now I remember, the men who broke into my house, they hit me and I must have blacked out. As I try to sit up I can hear voices from the next room and those voices do not sound happy.

" _What the hell were you thinking?" a voice yells._

" _We can use her as leverage," said voice two._

" _So you want to provoke the Son's and start up shit that I don't need?"_

" _I was just thinking," two began._

" _You were thinking? No, none of this shit would have happened if you idiots had been thinking."_

" _Look she's here now so we might as well use her," voice one said._

" _Go get her, let's see what she really knows."_

No more than a second later the door is opened and one of the men walks in. I can't see him but I can see his outline. He walks over to me and yanks me up, and then he practically pushes me out the door. As I stumble out the door I lose my footing and fall, landing hard on the concrete floor. I look up and see an older white guy with a bunch of Nazi tattoos. The man who pushed me yanks me back up so I am standing in front of the tattooed man.

"What would a girl like you have to do with the Son's?" he questions. I don't answer him and stare down at the floor. "So you're a quiet one huh," he laughs softly. I didn't see it coming when he backhands me across the face. I swear my head almost snapped off. I look up at him and could feel the blood drip from my now split lip. "So I know the Sons wouldn't tell you anything," he states looking me up and down. "So what's your connection to them?"

Again I say nothing, I just look straight ahead. The man behind me yanks my hair back, "You had better answer him."

"How can I answer a question if I have no idea what you are talking about," I say though gritted teeth. I guess they didn't like that answer because the man hit me again.

"You have no idea what we can and probably will do to you," the tattooed man says leaning down so he is almost whispering in my ear. "You stop being a smart ass and tell me what I want to know, and you can live. Though I can't guarantee the condition you'll be in, I can guarantee you'll still be breathing."

"I'm not gonna tell you anything," I whisper trying to catch my breath.

"Wrong choice sweetheart," he softly says running the back of his hand along my cheek. His phone rings so he stands back up and turns his back to me. "What? ... Fine me and the boys will be there in a few minutes….. I got it." He closes his phone and turns back to me. "Looks like you'll get a little reprieve, but don't worry sweetheart we'll have some fun when I get back." He then looks at the man holding me, "Put her back in the room, some shit is going down and we're needed." With that I'm turned and practically thrown back into the room and the door is slammed shut.

I scoot backwards and find a wall to lean against; it's kind of difficult with my hands tied behind my back. I sit down and listen to the three men leave; the voices I had heard at my house hadn't even taken off their masks the cowards. It's not like I would have known who they were anyways. Why would they take me of all people?

I have no idea how long I've been stuck huddled up in this room. It could have been five minutes or two hours for all I know. Then I heard a crashing noise like a door had been kicked in. Given my record with crashing noises I don't know if this one is a good or bad thing. As I brace myself for the tattooed man to come back in for me the door to the room is kicked in and the outline of a man appears in the door way.

**_Gemma's Point of View_ **

I pull up to Natalie's house and can automatically tell something isn't right. I don't know what it is but I can't shake the feeling something bad has happened. I jump out of the car and almost run to the front door. I start to bang on it calling out to her, "Natalie baby girl you in there?" I continue banging not receiving an answer. I look around and notice that there is a gate that leads to the back yard.

As I walk up to the back door I notice that there is glass on the ground. I look up and see that a window is broken. I try the door knob and find the door unlocked. I walk in and the house looks like a tornado blew through. I pull out a gun that I keep in my purse and slowly walk from the kitchen into the hall. "Natalie where are you sweetheart," I call out desperation sounding in my voice.

I see an open door that looks like it belongs to a bedroom. I walk slowly into it and it's been trashed. I look down at the floor and see some blood smudged on the carpet. Frantically I search through the rest of the house and I can't find Nat anywhere. Who the hell would have done this? I pull out my cell and call Clay.

"He babe I'm kind of busy at the moment," Clay says as a greeting.

"Clay its Natalie," I say panicking.

"What happened?" he asked hearing my worry.

"I'm at her house, it's trashed," I begin. "An upstairs window is broken and, and"

"And what?" he asks softly.

"Clay there's blood on the floor, it's not much, but it's enough." I say shakily.

"Alright babe, me and the guys are on our way. We'll find her and who ever did this is going to pay."

After I hang up with Clay I call Gus and fill him in. He and Ava will be here as soon as possible. I just hope that Natalie will be ok until we can get to her. Whoever did this better start praying because Tig is not going to let them continue breathing.

**_Tig's Point Of View_ **

I'm sitting at the bar in the club house talking with Happy when Clay walks in. By the look on his face something's not right.

"Alright I want everyone to listen because we're already wasting time," he says and gets everyone's attention. He then looks at me I can tell it's definitely not good, "Gemma's at Natalie's house. There was a broken window and the house was trashed. She found blood on the floor of one of the bedrooms."

As soon as he says this my blood goes cold. "What the hell are we still doing here," I yell and head for the door. I'm gonna fucking kill whoever touched her. As I get to the door Clay grabs hold of my arm, "Let me go," I say coldly the killer in me taking over.

"Look here brother were going to get her back, but we need a plan so she doesn't get killed. We're gonna head to her house and start from there." I take a breath and nod.

"Fine, but lets get a move on it," I growl.

We made a two and a half hour drive in an hour and a half. As we pull into Natalie's driveway and see Gus and Ava's car. I jump off of my bike and head into the house ahead of the rest of the guys. As I walk into the living room I see Gemma and Ava sitting on the couch and Gus pacing in front of them.

I head down the hall and stop at the bedroom. As I walk in I can see that someone trashed it. I crouched down and looked at the smudged blood on the floor. There wasn't much so they didn't kill her, but they made her bleed so they are dead. I look around the room and see Natalies cell phone on the floor dead. Why the hell didn't the alarm go off? Shit they had a power outage because of the wind. "Damn it," I yell. I head back into the living room and Clay is talking to Gemma.

Happy, Jax, and Chibs walk downstairs, "Nothing but a broken window up there," Chibs says stopping in front of me.

"Alright we don't have much to go on." I look over at Clay as he speaks. "I say we split up and see if anyone may have seen anything or knows anything. Gemma, you Ava, and the prospect will stay here. Me, Gus, and Tig will go to the dinner. The rest of you break up in twos and ask around."

We walked into Gus's dinner and I turned on Clay. "Why the fuck are we here? We need to be out there to look for her?"

"We're here to keep your ass from killing the people we need to question to find your girl, so sit down and shut the fuck up," Clay growls at me.

As I go to sit down at a damn table the dinner door opens. I turn to see who it is and they must have a death wish. "Now is not the fucking time Darby," I growl. I look behind him at the other guy with him and see that little shit I beat the crap out of for putting his hands on Natalie. He must have something to do with Natalie going missing otherwise he wouldn't be here. I rush at him and have him pinned down on the table with my arm around his neck. "Tell me where the Fuck Natalie is, and you better tell me quick."

"Get him off him Clay," Darby yells.

"You better tell him kid," Clay says ignoring Darby.

"She's at the warehouse," Kevin gasps out.

"What warehouse," I growled tightening my hold on his neck.

"Tig let him up," Clay says. "Don't want him to pass out before we find out where she is?" I squeeze one more time before I let him go. I step back while he is still on the table gasping.

"I got a call this morning about some shit going on here," Darby says sitting in the chair at the table Kevin is at. "When I called my guys together to take care of the problem I found out some interesting information. I'll tell you where the girl is if you forget this shit ever happened."

"You'll tell me where she is or I'll fucking kill you."

"I wasn't talking to you," Darby drawls.

I start to walk towards him but clay pulls me back. "You see your guys took Tig's girl. You really expect no blood is going to be shed over this?"

Darby looks down at the table for a moment. "Fine, the guys who took her will back at the warehouse on 12th and Fair in thirty minutes. Do what you want to them, I don't know a thing." He says and him and Kevin walk out of the dinner.

"I'll call the guys," Clay tells me taking out his phone. Those guys are going to pay and they will pay with their lives.

The guys and I snuck into the warehouse looking for any sign of the men and Natalie. We had been looking for awhile. We split into threes and continued our search. Finally we hear the men laughing walking up to where we are currently hiding behind a corner. They were joking about the things they were planning to do to Natalie. As they start to turn the corner Happy, Chibs, and I attack. I took the older guy with tattoos. I punched him and punched. He grabbed a hold of my waist trying to push me back so I kneed him in the face. When the guy Chibs was working on bumped me, I stumbled forward giving my guy time to punch me. I grab him and bite part of his ear off. I take out my knife and stab him in the stomach until I stop hearing him breathe. I stand looking up seeing that Happy and Chibs were about done as well. "You guys got this?"

"Ya, go find your girl," Chibs said pulling his gun out.

I take off looking through each room as I go. This is a fucking warehouse why the hell is there so many damn rooms? I come across a locked door so I kick it in. I look around and just as I'm about to leave I see another door. I try to open it but it's locked so I kick it in. The damn room is pitch black I can't see anything, where the hell is the light switch?

**_Back to Natalie's Point of View_ **

The man stood in the doorway for a moment before he started to look for something on the wall. He found the light switch, but the light hurt my eyes so much I closed them before I could get a look at who the man is. I heard a sharp intake of breath so I looked up and saw the man was Tig. The moment my eyes met his he was on his knees next to me gathering me in his arms. I buried my face into his shoulder unable to keep myself from crying. He untied my hands and as soon as they were free I wrapped them around him just trying to hold on to him for how ever long possible.

"My God Babe, you scared the shit out of me," he said holding me closer to him. He leans back to look at my face and curses. "They didn't," he starts but cant finish.

I know exactly what he's asking and rush to reassure him, "No, they just hit me and tossed me around."

He leans down and gently kisses the side of my mouth that hasn't been split open. "Tig you in here?" I can hear Jax ask from outside the room.

"Ya we're in here," Tig called out to him.

Jax runs into the room, "Come on Opie's getting ready to blow the place as soon as we're all out."

Tig nods and stands up. I try to get up on my own only to fall back down. Tig reaches down and picks me up swinging me up in his arms. He carries me bridal style out of the room. As we make our way through the warehouse we pass the three guys that kidnapped me. There was blood everywhere. "Don't look baby," Tig tells me and I hide my face in his neck. Finally we make it out side it can't be more than three maybe four in the afternoon. Tig walks over to a black van and the side door opens revealing Juice. Tig hands me to him then gets in the van himself. After he is seated he takes me back from Juice and I curl myself into him.

The rest of the guys get in the van as an explosion goes off. I jump and Tig holds onto me tighter. "Clay we need to take her to a hospital," Tig says.

"Please no hospitals," I whisper. "I just want to go home."

"Your hurt and need to be checked out," Tig says worriedly.

"Please Tig, I'll be fine." I try to argue.

"I called Tara and she's on her way to her house man," Jax says from next to Tig.

"When did you call her?" Tig asks.

"Before we hit the warehouse, I figured we might need her."

"Alright," Tig softly says looking down at me. "If she thinks you need to go to the hospital your going. Got it Kid?"

"Got it Creepy," I whisper and put my head on his shoulder.

About ten minutes later we reached my house. One by one the guys got out of the van, Tig handed me to Jax so he could get out. When he had taken me back in his arms to carry me inside Ava and Gemma come running out of my house. "Oh thank God," I hear Ava say as we pass her.

We walk into the house and Tig stops by the stairs, "Where's your room sweetheart?" he asks quietly.

"It's down here," I say. Apparently he knows where to go because he walks straight there. I can see that Gemma and Ava had been cleaning up for me. My room is back to being spotless. Tig gently lays me on my bed then goes to stand up. I reach out and gently tug on his arm. "Please don't go." I whisper. "Can you hold me for a little while?" I ask my voice slightly cracking.

Tig slowly eases on the bed next to me. I curl into his side and lay my head on his chest. Gently he strokes my hair. The room is quiet us just lying there, me listening to his heart beat. "I am so sorry babe," Tig says breaking the silence.

"Tig this wasn't your fault," I say looking up at him. "You didn't do this to me."

"They came after you because of me," he says harshly.

I roll over slightly so I can look up at him better. "Alex look at me," I say because he is starring up at the ceiling. "Alex," I say again and he finally looks into my eyes. "This isn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself."

"If it wasn't," he starts but I cut him off.

"Alex shut the fuck up and listen to me," I say raising my voice. It got his attention because he stopped talking and his mouth is hanging open in shock. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been happy these last couple weeks. I barely know you, but I feel safe with you. If you don't want to see me anymore fine, but you better have a better reason than you think what happened to me is your fault."

"Wow," he says after a moment, "I now know that when you're pissed at me you'll call me by my name." He shudders dramatically causing me to laugh at him. "Your something else you know that?"

Before I could reply the bedroom door opened and Gemma walked in. "Hey baby girl, the doc is here to check on you."

"Ok," I say and Tig gets up.

"I'll be right outside," he says leaning down and kissing my forehead. He then walks out the door letting Tara come inside.

As Gemma turns to follow Tig I call out to her, "Gemma will you stay with me?"

"Sure sweetheart," she says coming to stand next to the bed.

"Hi I'm Tara, lets get you cleaned up a bit so I can check you out," she says softly putting a bag on the bed. I close my eyes trying to relax as she clean the cuts on me face. Man this really sucks.


	13. Not Such A Bad Guy

It took almost an hour to get cleaned up. Gemma made sure that Tara thoroughly checked me over. I have some bruises from when I was grabbed, pushed, and dropped. I have a black eye, split lip, and a bruise that runs along my right cheek. I'm sorer than anything but I'll live. As Tara was looking over my injuries I took the time to observe her and Gemma. It doesn't look like Gemma likes her very much. Hmm I wonder what she did. Any time Gemma would look at Tara her eyes would go cold, then they would go all motherly as she looked back at me. I'll probably get the whole story later.

As soon as my examination was over Gemma and Tara left the room so I could shower and change my cloths. I am currently finishing getting dressed in some pink sweat pants and a black tank top. I gently run my brush through my hair careful of my newly acquired bump. I slip on my Nightmare Before Christmas Jack the Skeleton slippers and open my bedroom door. As I walk towards the living room I can hear the group talking.

"For the last time Tig she is fine, she shouldn't need to go to the hospital. Right now she needs some aspirin and relaxation. She hasn't gone into any type of shock so she should be ok," I can hear Tara try to reassure Tig.

"Should be," he argues.

I start to walk up behind the group they haven't noticed me yet because I'm kind of short and they are facing the other direction looking into the living room. "You know it's not nice to talk about people like they aren't here." I say causing half of the room to jump.

"What the hell Nat," Juice says from next to me. "I didn't even hear you walk up on us. We're gonna have to put a bell around your neck or something," he laughs.

I smile at him and look over at Tig who is smirking at me. "Really I'm ok Al…"

"Don't you say it," he says quickly cutting my sentence off.

"I was going to say _alright_ , but if you want the word has been removed from my vocabulary," I smirk at him causing the rest of the room to quietly laugh. I slowly walk up to him and he wraps me up in a hug.

"You know it used to be us that got the hugs first," Ava says from behind me. Without letting Tig go I turn slightly to look at her.

"You know I love you both." I say as she winks at me.

"So do you need help packing a bag?" she asks

"Why? I didn't know I was going anywhere," I say confused. I mean I'm already at my house where else would I be going?

"Well we thought it best if you came and stayed with us for a little while."

"Oh and who is this we?" Now I'm getting irritated, since when can't I stay in my own home?

"Well all of us," she stands up and walks towards me. "You'll be safer staying with us and we can keep an eye on you."

"No," I say strongly standing my ground. "I'm not going to be scared into leaving my home. If it has been good enough for me to live alone in since my parents died, it's good enough for me to live in now. I can make my own decisions and I'm not going anywhere."

"Come on babe it's for your own good," Tig says looking down at me.

"No," I say stepping away from him, hating the hurt look on his face. "I have been alone in this house for awhile now. What happened last night scared the hell out of me, but this is my home," I say starting to tear up. "This is still the place I feel safest, and I'm sorry if you all don't agree." I turn and walk upstairs ignoring the conversation going on.

I walk all the way down the hall and into my parent's bedroom. I never changed anything in here, every brush, pillow, and house coat are in the exact place they left it. As I enter their room I see that those asses trashed it. At this point I can't help but cry. I sit down on the floor next to their bed and hug onto the pillow that is on the floor. It's amazing after almost two years I can still smell my mother's perfume in here.

"Natalie," I hear someone call to me. I'm now crying so hard I can't answer. "Oh baby," they say sitting next to me putting their arms around me. "This is your parents room isn't it?" I just nod and lean into the person. I look up and am shocked that it's Clay holding me. "Don't be so shocked, I'm not such a bad guy," he says and I laugh shakily.

"I'm sorry for being such a pain," I say looking down at the pillow.

"You're not a pain, your just getting dealt some shitty cards."

"That's one way to look at it," I laugh leaning my head on his shoulder.

"We just want to protect you, if you haven't noticed everyone's kind of attached to you now." He gently squeezes my shoulder. "Besides if anything ever happens to you I think Tig really will lose it, and he's scary enough as it is."

"I appreciate everyone worrying about me, and I can't express how thankful I am you got to me before, before anything worse happened but..."

"But what sweetheart?" he asks quietly.

"This is going to sound insane but this is the safest place in the world to me. I can't let what happened take away my security in my own home, I wont let them take that from me."

"I'll make a deal with you," he says after a moment. "You stay the night with Gus and Ava tonight, so we can make sure last night won't occur again, and you can come back tomorrow. Besides Gemma wants to clean up the house, she doesn't want you straining yourself."

I can't help but laugh at that. "Alright I'll go on one condition."

"What's that?"

"She lets me take care of this room," I quietly tell him.

"We have a deal," he says slightly hugging me. "Now let's get down there before they send out a search party." We get up and walk out of my parent's bedroom. As we reach the stairs he turns and looks at me, "As far as they know I told you, you are going to Ava and Gus's, we didn't make a deal."

"Ok," I nod my head. "You have a reputation to protect." I wink at him and walk down the stairs. I walk into the living room and everyone stops talking and stares at me.

"Shit Clay did you have to make her cry," Gemma yells at Clay as he comes up behind me. She walks up to me and pulls me into a hug glaring at him.

"He said I have to go, and if I don't he's going to burn my house down, then I'll never have it to come back to," I say _crying_ into her shoulder.

"You ass, hasn't she been through enough stress" she yells at him. She then whispers to me, "Don't worry baby girl nothing will happen to your house."

"Will you stop it," Clay says gruffly. "Consider it a little tough love."

"Clay you so much as light a cigarette near this house and you'll regret it," Gemma threatens.

"Fine baby the girl, see if I care," he says and heads outside.

Gemma glares at his back for a moment then says to me, "Come on sweetheart lets go pack you a bag. Come on Ava."

As the three of us walk into my bedroom Gemma busts out laughing. Ava quickly closes the door and starts to laugh herself. "Thank you for that. He tries to look tough in front of the guys, you're not a bad actress," she says after she controls her laughter.

All of a sudden I realize that I hadn't seen Tig when I walked back downstairs. "Gemma did Tig leave," I ask her worriedly.

"He went outside for a smoke," she says smiling at me then looking over at Ava. "He won't leave you. Now let's get that bag packed, its getting late."

It took all of ten minutes to put a bag together. We walked into the living room and I saw Tig standing by the front window. "That was fast," Gus says and Tig turns around. I look at his face and he seems almost different. It's like he is wearing a mask, this isn't my Tig. What's going on?

"Tig, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone," I ask.

"Actually we have to get going," he says not even looking at me but over my head at Ava.

"What happened?" I'm starting to worry now. What did I do for him to act like this?

He doesn't answer me; he just turns around and heads to the door. I look around the room and no one will look me in the eyes. I turn behind me and Gemma looks pissed and Ava looks guilty, she's just staring at the ground. She must have said something.

"What did you say to him?" I ask her quietly. She doesn't answer me and goes to walk around me. So I look to Gemma, "What happened while I was upstairs?"

"Let's just say some people got a little opinionated about two certain people spending time together," she says giving the others in the room a harsh glare.

I quickly turn away from her and address everyone in my house, "Now I'm only going to say this once so I hope you all are listening. I don't know what you said to him, but your two cents aren't needed. I can make my own decisions and I can decide who I deem worthy enough to spend time with. I don't need other people trying to rule my life; I'm a big girl and have been taking care of myself just fine. I do appreciate the help every single one of you have given me, but that doesn't mean you get a say in how I live my life. Especially a bunch of people I just met. And you two," I look over at Ava and Gus, "I love you more than you will ever know, but if you don't give me space and room to grow I will never experience life. Your going to end up smothering me."

"We just want to protect you," Gus says. "Even if that means keeping you away from Tig. I don't want you to end up dead."

"Gus I could get killed walking to the diner, no one can escape death. When it's their time it's their time. I love you and I respect you, but I need you to respect me enough to let make my own decisions." I walk over to Gus and hug him, "You've been like a father to me and I love you for it, you gave me a chance when you barely knew me. Why can't you give him a chance too?" I kiss his cheek and walk away from the living room to the front door.

I open the door and see Tig sitting on the steps smoking. "You know those things cause lung cancer," I say sitting next to him.

"Ya well that's the least of my worries."

"I know they said something to you." I try to look at face but he is intent on starring at the street. "I told them to butt out of what's going on between us."

He laughs harshly and mutters something I couldn't make out. Finally he looks at me and it's a different person starring back at me. This is the cold Tig, the Tig that beat the crap out of Kevin. "They're right kid; I'm not a good person to have hanging around you. Its better that we end this now, before either one of us got attached. Besides I don't need to be a babysitter."

"A babysitter," I mutter and stare at my hands. "Well then thank you for getting me out of the warehouse. It was a pleasure knowing you." I say and walk inside; I refuse to show any emotion. I won't let him know how much his words really have hurt me. I quietly close the door and start to head to my room.

"Where do you think your going?" Clay asks blocking my path.

"Well I am going to my room. I need a minute to myself." I say trying to control my emotions.

"What happened?" he asked sounding concerned.

"Nothing, everything is just fine," I say emotionless. I walk around Clay and walk into my bedroom closing and locking the door behind me.

"Natalie open up," Gemma says knocking on my door. I ignore her and lay down on my bed. She knocks two more times before everything goes quiet. I hope they all leave me alone; I'm just exhausted and tired of dealing with them. All of a sudden my door is being swung open causing me to jump up right. "Come on you should even know how to pick a lock." Gemma says closing the door behind her. I scoot over so Gemma can lie down next to me on the bed. For a couple minutes we just lay there starring at the ceiling. "They should have kept their opinions to themselves," she says breaking the silence.

"Who's they," I mumble.

"Ava, Gus, and that bitch Tara. Gus and Ava I can see wanting to have a say, but Tara has no right," Gemma actually growled.

"Gemma I'm so tired of everyone trying to run my life," I cover my face with my hands and laugh. "I mean I know I'm 19 but I've been doing just fine. I barely know him and he has made me happier then I've been since I lost my parents. When I'm around him I actually feel like I'm participating in the world instead of just watching it pass by me." I sigh and look over at her.

"I know what you mean baby girl. Look don't give up on him just yet," she says in a motherly tone. "Why don't you try talking to him one more time? If he still acts like an ass, walk away. But at least give him one more chance, I think you both deserve it."

"Alright," I sigh getting up.

"What happened to removing that word from your vocabulary," she laughs as I wave and walk out the door.

I ignore everyone and walk back outside. Sure enough Tig is still sitting on the steps, this time I think his name is Happy is sitting next to him. Happy looks back at me and nods his head. He stands up and walks past me into the house never saying a word. I think he needs a new nickname because he doesn't seem very happy to me. As I sit down next to Tig he looks over at me.

We stare at one another for what seems like forever. It's like we are having a conversation without having to say anything. He's telling me he's sorry and that he is an ass. I'm telling him he's forgiven and that he's an ass. Next thing I know I'm in his lap and he is kissing me like his life depends on it. "God babe I'm so sor…"

"Shhh, its ok, just don't do that again. I don't want this to end before we even get started." I say putting my forehead against his. "Besides," I smile, "you owe me a date tomorrow night."

He smiles back at me, "That's right I do, I almost forgot."

"Alex you had better be joking," I say irritably.

"Ooooo feisty, aren't we?" he laughs.

"You are such a dork," I sigh and kiss him.

"Awe isn't this sweet," Gemma walks outside and sits next to us. She pulls out a cigarette and lights it.

"Don't you know those things cause lung cancer," Tig repeats what I had said to him earlier. Gemma raises her eyebrow at him, and I just laugh.

"So Nat, how do you feel about going shopping tomorrow morning for a new outfit for your date?" She laughs at my shocked look. How did she know?

I lean towards Tig and whisper in his ear, "Is she psychic?" The three of us laugh, "Of course Gemma I would love to finally go shopping with you."

"Good because I was going to pick you up tomorrow morning anyways," she says smirking at me. "When we're done I can finish cleaning up your house while you get ready."

"You about ready to go Natalie?" Ava asks walking outside.

I look over Tig shoulder at her not really wanting to leave him just yet. "You know what it's getting to be dinner time and I'm kind of hungry, why don't we all have dinner here then head over to your house?" I practically plead with her.

"That's a great idea, I'll cook something up," Gus says walking up behind Ava. "I have this new recipe you all are going to love."

Gus turns and walks back inside with Ava following him with a scared look. "I don't know whether to be happy or scared," I say hiding my face in Tigs shoulder while he and Gemma laugh.

An hour later we all piled into the dinning room that hasn't been used these last couple years. Clay sat at one end with Gemma next to him and Gus sat at the other end with Ava next to him. Tig sat on the other side of Clay and I sat next to him and Juice sat next to me. The rest of the guys filled in the rest of the seats with Tara as far away from Gemma as possible.

We sat around the table and ate the meal that Gus prepared. Shockingly it was very good, not weird at all. After we had finished Gemma, Ava, Tara, and I collected the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Gemma washed the dishes I dried while Ava and Tara cleaned up the rest of the kitchen. We worked well together, occasionally Gemma would say something to irritate Tara, but all in all things got done.

Right now everyone is going to the van, cars, and bikes while I am locking my front door. Tig decided he was going to "help" me so he is standing behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist and his head on my shoulder. "Ok, the house is all locked up," I announce. I turn around and wrap my arm around his neck and he gently kisses me.

When we finally reach the point where we need to breathe we pull apart and he whispers in my ear, "I'll see you tomorrow, be ready by four."

"Four?" I question him.

"Yep, I have it all planned out and I need you ready to go exactly at four."

"Ok, I'll be ready," I say and he kisses me again before walking me to Gus and Ava's car.

He smiles at me as I get in. "I'll see you tomorrow Nat," I hear Gemma call to me as she drives off. I smile at Tig one last time and the Gus pulls out of the driveway taking us to their home. Looks like everyone might just be able to get along after all.


	14. The First Lady

"Natalie you have five minutes to get your ass out of that bed before I come in there," Gemma calls through Ava's guest bedroom door. She banged on it for a good five minutes before she started her threats.

I just moan as a response. It took me forever to fall asleep last night; my head is still pounding like crazy. I slowly get out of the bed and I'm a bit stiff. _Crack, crack_ are those my bones? Man it should be a crime for someone my age to make this much noise. I grab my bag that was packed and walk over to the door. I lean on it for a minute, I feel like crawling back to bed, but I really don't want Gemma to "come in here." Slowly I open the bedroom door and stumble across the hall to the bathroom.

I splash some water on my face to wake myself up. As I look up into the mirror I gasp. I didn't really pay attention to the bruises yesterday. I look like I got into a fight and lost big time. I sigh and grab my tooth brush. As soon as I finish I get dressed. Today I'm in a black tank top, black jean shorts, my mother's necklace, and some killer multi-strap sandals with a nice heal. I know shopping in them is going to kill my feet but it will be so worth it. I leave my hair down and put my sunglasses on top of my head. I put on a little bit of mascara and lip gloss and head back to the guest bedroom. I put my stuff in my bag, make the bed, and pick up my black leather bag with my wallet already inside it. I pick up my other bag that I brought over last night and head to the kitchen. Just before I go to open the door leading to the kitchen I can hear the conversation going on inside.

"Look Gemma we're not going to agree about this. Just look after her alright," I hear Gus say.

"Alright, I'll look out for her. Just give them a chance," Gemma says as I walk into the kitchen.

**_Ava's Point of View_ **

Nat barely slept last night, I could hear her tossing and turning. I know she likes Tig but I just don't think he is any good for her. I mean she got kidnapped, beat up, and put through a lot of emotional trauma. I want to protect her otherwise I wouldn't have said anything to Tig yesterday after she went upstairs.

_Natalie had just practically run upstairs away from us all. I just want to protect her why can't she see that. Tig goes to follow her but Clay steps in front of him. "I'll go talk to her." He says and walks upstairs._

" _This is exactly why I don't want her any where near you," Gus says walking up to Tig. "If it wasn't for you she wouldn't be going through this right now…." Gus starts to raise his voice and Gemma cuts in._

" _That's enough Gus, and lower your damn voice, she doesn't need to hear this," she says standing up._

" _No it's exactly what she needs to hear," I add in. "We have been taking care of that girl for a while now. She is like our daughter. I never wanted something like this to happen to her. And you know what? This probably isn't the worst she is going to ever be hurt because of him."_

" _What's that suppose to mean?" Tig says in a low voice. "I would never hurt her."_

" _She doesn't mean physically," Tara says ignoring Gemma's glare. "What about the girls on the runs? The crow eaters back home? Natalie isn't the type of girl to just accept that. You are going to crush her if she ever found out what you really do. In the end you will walk away and she will be a shell of who she is now."_

" _I would never do that," Tig tries to argue._

" _You will, you need to end this now before she gets hurt again," Gus tells him._

" _You all need to mind your own business and let Natalie make up her own mind on whether or not she wants to see him," Gemma says angrily. "Stop trying to make decisions for her."_

" _I will not wait around to hear that my daughter has been killed or kidnapped Gemma," Gus says just as angrily. "If he continues to see her that is exactly what will happen. I love her too much to let him destroy her."_

" _What makes you think that?" Gemma asks._

" _He's a killer Gemma, he is ruthless and cold, she is the total opposite. She is smart, caring, and has a bright future. She should never have been exposed to this world. I know what he has done, so do you. How can you expect me to stand around and say nothing when I know in the end she will always end up hurt."_

_I turn and look as I hear Tara talking to Tig over by the window. "You know they're right. We are just trying to keep her safe and happy cant you see that? Your not a bad person, it's just your not right for her."_

" _Tara you need to stay out of this. In fact all of you need to shut up and leave him alone," Jax says sounding irritated._

" _They're right Jax," Tig says softly. "If I stay around she'll end up hurt or worse. Don't worry I'll end it," he says and walks away. Moments later Natalie and Clay come down the stairs._

I can't believe how angry with us all she was. Though I do have to admit she has been a lot happier lately. Watching them together last night during dinner was an eye opener. She talked and laughed as if she was the one who had known them all for years. At first I wasn't opposed to the idea of them together, but that was before someone broke into her house and hurt her. I can only hope that he doesn't break her heart.

"Look who I found trying to steal our paper," I turn around and see Gus walk into the kitchen with Gemma.

"Morning," she says.

"Morning, want some coffee?" I ask.

"Please. Is Natalie up yet?"

"Nope you are probably going to have to pry her out of that bed with a crowbar," I laugh.

"Alright, Gus if I'm not back in ten minutes with her break out your tools," she says walking out the kitchen door. I just laugh and get her coffee ready for her.

**_Gemma's Point of View_ **

I pull up at Gus' and Ava's house. As I get out of my car I see Gus walking down the driveway to get the paper. "Morning," I say.

"If your selling I'm not buying, I have already found Jesus, and no I won't help you find your lost animal or child," Gus says looking serious.

"Cute," I smile.

"Morning Gemma, come inside we'll get ya a cup of coffee," he smiles and leads the way into the house and into the Kitchen.

As we walk in the Kitchen Gus says to Ava, "Look who I found trying to steal our paper." Honestly this man is a menace.

"Morning," I say.

"Morning, want some coffee?"

"Please. Is Natalie up yet?" I ask looking around the kitchen.

"Nope you are probably going to have to pry her out of that bed with a crowbar," she laughs.

"Alright, Gus if I'm not back in ten minutes with her, break out your tools," I say and walk out of the kitchen.

I head down the hall to the guest bedroom. I knock and knock for almost five minutes. Ok that's it, "you have five minutes to get your ass out of that bed before I come in there," I call through the door. I hear a moan as confirmation that she heard me. As I walk into the kitchen I hear the bedroom door open.

"Alright she's up," I say sitting down and picking up my cup of coffee. We drink our coffee and chat about the diner, "So did the plumber fix that pipe at the diner?"

"Yes, not that I couldn't fix it," Gus mumbles making Ava and I laugh.

"So what's the plan today?" Ava asks.

"Well I was thinking on heading to the next town over to go the shopping mall, maybe find her something to wear tonight." As soon as I mention tonight both of their faces fell. They really need to get over this. "I say something wrong?"

"Look Gemma we're not going to agree about this. Just look after her alright," Gus says to me.

"Alright, I'll look out for her. Just give them a chance," I say before Natalie walks into the kitchen.

**_Natalie's Point of View_ **

I walk into the kitchen lugging my bag and purse. I just smile acting as if I hadn't been eavesdropping. "Good morning everyone," I say as I put my bags down and sit next to Gemma at the table.

"Morning sweetheart," Gus says.

"Morning," Ava says handing me a cup of coffee.

"Thank you," I say taking a sip.

"Morning, how are you feeling," Gemma asks.

"Not bad, I just have a small headache," I lie.

"Uh huh, when you're ready we'll take off."

"I'm ready when you are," I tell her.

"Ok, let's get going," she says and stands up. "Gus, Ava," she says and picks up my overnight bag.

"I'll see you both later," I say hugging them both. Gemma and I both walk out of the house and head to her car. As we get in I look over and see Gus standing at the door, so I smile and wave at him, and he returns the gesture.

"Ok we are going to the next town over to the shopping mall," Gemma tells me pulling away from the house. "You gonna be able to shop in those shoes?" she asks me.

"We'll see," I laugh. "If not at least my feet will look good."

Thirty minutes later we found ourselves at a small diner about ten minutes from the mall. We were seated at a booth drinking coffee and waiting for our meal to arrive. "How's your head sweetheart?" Gemma asks.

"It's ok right now, as long as I'm not around anything loud," I say and she nods. "So do you know where he is taking me tonight?" I ask trying to be sneaky.

"Yes I do, but I'm not going to tell you anything," she laughs and I pout. "You have a nice house." She says making conversation.

"Thank you. I try to keep it up, and everything like it was," I smile.

"If you don't mind me asking why aren't you in college?" She asks

"Well I barely got through the end of high school; I guess I just lost interest. Not to mention college costs a lot these days."

"Your parents didn't leave you anything?"

"They did, but there wasn't much. You see they had just paid off the house, and they had invested practically all of their savings in starting dad's practice." I say looking up at her. "Dad wasn't a major lawyer, but he did a great job. He worked and helped people, unlike those blood sucking ones that only care about money. He wanted to make a difference. Finally after a few years of debate mom convinced him to start a practice. Him and his partner Uncle Ben put soo much into getting it started," I smile remembering how hard my dad used to work. "So after all the bills were paid, and everything settled I got what was left. I work at the dinner to help pay the bills and for when I need anything. I don't like to touch that money in case I absolutely need it. As for college, I was just so broken when they died that I probably would have flunked out before I even began."

"Like I said that day I officially met you, you're a tough one," she smiles at me. Just then our waiter brings over our food.

An hour later we entered the mall. "Ok sweetheart, it is 11:00 now, so we have a couple hours to shop before we have to head to your house. Let's get started."

We walked into the first store and began to look. The only problem I have is I have no idea where we are going so I don't know what would be appropriate to wear. I know it won't be anything fancy, but I still need to know what kind of outfit would be appropriate. "Hey Gemma I don't even know what to look for."

"Anything but a skirt or dress and you'll be fine," she says going through a rack of cloths. "How about this one?" She is holding the most hideous purple halter top that has these bright green polka dots all over it. As I look at her in shock she starts to laugh, "What you don't like it?" she asks looking back and forth between me and the top still laughing. "You should see the look on your face right now, it's priceless."

"Thank goodness you were joking, cuz I was going to ask if you were crazy," I laugh.

For the next couple of hours we went from store to store. I picked out some things I like, but still nothing for tonight. As we walk into the last store I look over at Gemma sounding extremely pathetic I say, "I'm never going to find anything."

"Come on I'm sure we will find something in here. If not we'll mix something you bought today with what you have at home." She shrugs walking through the store.

We both go through the racks trying to find something. Practically all day long I would pick out something and she would give me "are you sure that's what you want" kind of look. Not to mention it didn't help that people kept starring at me all day. In the last store while I was looking all sad because I couldn't find anything a clerk actually asked me if I was ok and if I needed help getting away from Gemma, as if she had kidnapped me or something. I just laughed and said no, I had gotten in a fight with a girl twice my size who I suspected was actually a male. He just noded his head and looked at me sympathetically.

"I think I found something," I look over at Gemma who is smiling like she had just won the lottery. I look at what she is holding and it's perfect. My favorite colors and everything. Gemma has great taste we're going to have to go shopping together again soon. "Do you own any boots with a thick heel, not a thin one?"

"Yes I do, and I have the perfect jeans that I bought when we first got here." I say thinking of how the outfit is going to look.

"Perfect, is there anything else you want because we have to get going. We need enough time to get back, get some lunch, and then get you ready." She lists off as she stares down at her watch.

"Nope I'm good," I tell her already heading towards the register.

The whole drive home I'm practically bouncing up and down in my seat, I'm so excited for tonight. "Baby girl I think you've had a little too much coffee today," Gemma laughs.

"Nah, I'm just excited," I laugh. "You sure you won't give me a hint on where he is taking me?"

"Nope, but you'll have fun."

"Thank you for taking me today Gemma, I have had a lot of fun," I tell her sincerely.

"Me too sweetheart, it's not often I get any girl time to go shopping."

"Can I ask you a personal question," I ask carefully.

"Sure," she looks at me questioningly.

"What's the deal between you and Tara? I mean from the amount of time I spent with her she irritated the hell out of me. I also noticed that you don't like her very much so I was just curious." I say hoping I didn't just put my foot in my mouth.

She sighs and glances at me. "Tara and Jax were high school sweethearts. When she left she messed Jax up pretty bad. She could never accept the club part of Jax's life. She sits on a moral high horse and looks down on the rest of us."

"Sorry I didn't mean to upset you." I say.

"You didn't sweetheart, it's just a sore topic with me. I never have been able to bring myself to like her," she says softly.

"Well I can't say that I blame you," I smile at her. "So Jax is the clubs Vice President?"

"Yes, and Clay is the President," she answers and I can hear the pride in her voice.

"So you're like the first lady," I say and she starts to laugh.

"That's one way you can look at it."

"I understand that there is more to the club than meets the eye," I tell her turning serious. She looks at me and gets ready to say something but I start before she can. "I also don't care. I accept Tig for who he is, and I wouldn't want him to change. I understand that if anything happens with Tig and this isn't a one date thing, there will be times when the club comes first. I'm just enjoying the time I do get to spend with him, and I promise I won't judge him. I don't want the details of what goes on, I get that there is stuff I can't know. I just wanted to let you know I would never make him chose. You guys are his family and I get that."

"Your one on the rare ones baby girl," she says and smiles over at me. "Now I've only got bits and pieces of details, what really happened the day you two met?" For the rest of the ride I entertained her with the encounters I have had with Tig.


	15. Finally!!

**_Tig's Point of View_ **

"Clay got a minute?" I ask sitting next to him at the bar.

"Sure," he says looking over at me.

"That ATF bitch gave these to Natalie the other day," I say tossing the folder Natalie gave me on the bar.

"Damn it!" he yells looking at the folder's contents. "She saw this?" he asks lifting up a photo.

"No, she wouldn't look in the folder," I say with a tinge of pride.

"How do you know?" he asks as half-sack puts two beers down in front of us.

"I was right there as the bitch gave her the folder. She just turned around and handed it to me. She says she trusts me."

"Hmm," Clay is quiet for a minute and I can tell he's thinking about something. "You think we can trust her?"

"Absolutely, she different Clay," I say taking a drink from my beer.

"Please don't tell me that because some bird shakes her tail at you, you're gonna turn all soft on me," he says with this shocked look on his face.

"Of course not," I laugh. "Look I like the kid, but that's not gonna affect me."

"You sure about that? Dates, beating the shit out of guys before you even knew her, killing for her. Nah you would never do any of those things for a woman," he says drinking his beer. I just stare at him, "So what are we going to do about this? Their watching us, and from these photos their watching closely."

I look down at the photos and am grateful Nat didn't look at them. There are pictures of me and Clay talking with Laroy. Some with us testing some of the guns. Damn they have a picture of me with a knife at some guy's throat. There are even pictures of me putting some bags in the van at the diner, that day I saw her walking. The one that really got me was a crime scene picture of Donna. If she had seen any of these she wouldn't want anything to do with any of us.

"I don't know man," I sigh. "We just got to be more careful." I say and the prepay rings. "Yes…. Alright I'll tell him…Sure…" I say and hang up. "The Irish says the merchandise will be here in a couple days."

"Good," he says. "So where you taking her tonight," he asks.

I tell him and he starts to laugh. "What?" I ask I think it's a great date.

"It's just different," he laughs. "Don't get me wrong she's gonna have fun, it's just not something I would picture you doing."

"Well I got to get going," I say standing up.

"What, going to go spend an hour fixing your hair and makeup?" he asks smirking at me.

"Absolutely, you don't think I wake up looking like this," I say walking out the door.

_Natalie's Point of View_

After Gemma and I got to my house we had lunch. Together we did the dishes and laughed at the stories she told me about the guys. She told me about the time poor half-sack had to cut a deer out of a car. He then wanted to keep the head to put up in the club while it was still _fresh._ At about 3:00 she shooed me into my room to start to get ready. I took a good twenty minute shower. It felt sooo nice. Now I am getting ready.

I am wearing a off the shoulder tunic top. It has a black stripe at the top and at the bottom. The middle is a dark turquoise color, with black jeans, and boots. I am wearing my hair down around my shoulders, I put on some eye liner, mascara, light lip gloss and my mothers necklace. I have decided to wear a little perfume, my favorite euphoria. As I finish dabbing the perfume on my wrist Gemma knocks on my door.

"Hey baby girl," she says coming in my room. "You clean up nice."

"Thank you. Are you sure this will be alright?" I ask nervously.

"Yes I'm sure," she says standing in front of me and putting her hands on my shoulders. "Truthfully you could be wearing a trash bag and he would think you're gorgeous."

"Ok what time is it?" I ask smiling at her.

"It is," she looks down at her watch, "just about 4:00. Why don't we go wait for him in the living room?"

We walk into the living room and sit next to one another on the couch. I look around and see that Gemma had already started picking up. "Thank you for helping me clean this place up." I say looking at her.

"It's no problem sweetheart," she smiles at me. Her phone begins to ring so she pulls it out of her purse that is sitting on the table. She looks and the caller ID and curses under her breath. "I'll be back," she says getting up and walking towards the kitchen.

I look over at the clock and see that it is now a little after 4:00 so he should be here soon.

_Tig's Point of View_

It's around 2:00 and I'm just about ready to head out. I am wearing a black button down shirt with the first couple buttons open and the sleeves rolled up to my forearms. I am wearing jeans and my biker boots. I put on my cut and sunglasses just about ready to walk out the door. My cell rings so I pull it out of my pocket and see that it's Clay. "No don't do this to me," I say as a greeting.

"Sorry brother but some shit has come up," he sighs. "Meet us at the garage I'll explain when you get here." He then hangs up before I can reply.

"Damn it!" I yell. I slam and lock my door then head over to my bike. I start it up and head towards the garage. In my anger I may or may not have broken a few laws concerning my speed and stopping at red lights. I pull up at the garage and see Chibs and Jax walking into the club house. I turn my engine off and head towards the club house. I walk in and see that everyone has headed into church. I toss my cell at the box sitting on the pool table and head inside as well. I walk inside and take my seat to the right of Clay.

"Well don't you look all spruced up there," Chibs laughs from next to me.

"Spruced up?" Bobby laughs. "What Tig you couldn't dress up a bit more to take this girl out?"

"What are you talking about Elvis?" I say motioning to his white Elvis costume.

"I happen to be getting ready to head out to a job," he smirks.

"Alright enough," Clay says exasperated. "I called you all here for a reason." We all stop talking and look at him. Man I hope he makes this quick, I'm gonna be late. "I got a call from Laroy, they want their merchandise now."

"What do you mean now; their shipment isn't due in till next week." Jax says lighting a cigarette.

"Some Mayans have been trying to push into their territory, he wants the shipment now or he's goin somewhere else." He says taking a puff of his cigar. "Look after the warehouse getting blown up a couple months ago, and us barely on our feet we can't lose the business."

"We have some AK's put away, but there isn't enough for even half of his order," I say rubbing my hands over my face.

"I'll call him and see what we can work out," Clay says looking at all of us. "Right now we all need to be on our guards. That ATF bitch is keeping a close eye on us, and this shit with Leroy and the Mayans starting up doesn't help. You all need to watch your backs."

"Alright, anything else" Jax asks.

"That's it," Clay says.

"That's all you wanted?" I asked a little irritated.

"Shut up princess you'll still make it on time." Chibs laughs at me.

I just glare at him and stand up. "Ya ya laugh it up," I say walking out of the room. I go over to the pool table and grab my phone from the box. Couldn't he have just called and told me this shit. As I walk out of the club house I see Hale and three police cars pull in the parking lot. Damn so much for being on time. I sigh and turn around back inside the club house to alert the guys of our visitors.

_Gemma's Point of View_

Natalie and I are sitting in her living room when my phone goes off. I look down at the caller ID and see that it's Unser calling me. "Shit," I mutter. "I'll be right back," I tell her getting up and heading to the kitchen. "What can I do for you Chief?"

"Hey Gemma I got some bad news," he starts to say. "Hale brought Clay and the guys in for some questioning. Don't know what about, but he's got Clay, Happy, Tig, Chibs and Jax."

"Damn it! Alright are they being charged with anything?" I ask.

"I don't know yet, but that ATF is back," he tells me.

"I'll call Rosen," I say. I have a bad feeling about this. "Thanks for the heads up." I hang up the phone and lean against the counter. This is just great, they get arrested for doing who knows what, and now I have to go in there and ruin Natalie's night.

"You ok Gemma," I hear Natalie ask from behind me.

"No sweetheart," I sigh and turn around to look at her. "I'm gonna be honest with you alright?"

"Alright," she says cautiously.

"The guys got arrested a little while ago." I say and see her mouth drop.

"Oh my gosh, it isn't because of what happened the other day is it?"

"I don't know sweetheart, but it doesn't look good," I tell her honestly.

"Why do you say that?" she asks looking worried.

"Because agent Stahl is back in town," I sigh looking at her. I see her emotions change from worried to royally pissed off. "You alright there baby girl," I ask her.

"I'm fine; I just really am starting to hate that woman."

"I know sweetheart, me too," I tell her. "I hate to do this, but I have to go."

"Can I come with you?" she asks me with these huge puppy dog eyes.

"I don't know," I sigh trying not to look her in the eyes. "I'll be in the office, making a bunch of phone calls," I try.

"I can finish the filing I had started for you," she tells me. At that moment she made eye contact with me.

Ugh, "Fine I say, and stop with that damn eye thing," I tell her causing her to giggle. "Grab your purse lets go."

_Natalie's Point Of View_

After I talked Gemma into letting me go with her we left my house for Charming. I guess the eyes still work after all this time. They were always my parent's downfall, I can only smile at the number of time it had worked on them. As we get closer to garage Gemma turns to me, "Alright things are gonna be a bit tense, so just stay in the office alright?"

"I will stay in the office and work on the files," I promise.

We pull into the garage and Juice comes running up to the car. As Gemma and I get out he begins to fill her in on what happened. "I'll call Rosen right now," she says heading to the office. "Come on Nat, gotta keep up baby girl."

I practically have to jog to keep up with her, the curse of being short. I look over and see Juice starring at me. "Yes" I ask.

"Nothing, you look nice," he says smiling at me. Man could he be any more adorable?

"Thank you," I say and walk into the office.

Gemma is already on her phone so I grab a stack of papers on her desk and get started. I'm so engrossed in what I am doing that I vaguely hear her tell Juice to send the van to the police station to pick the guys up. "Need some help," I hear her ask making me jump.

"You scared me," I laugh. "Sure I think I'm about done."

"Hey have you seen Jax?" Tara asks coming in the office.

"No, but I'll tell him you stoped by," Gemma says never looking up from what she is doing.

"Sorry," I say. She just nods at me and walks out of the office. After the door is closed I look over at Gemma and start to laugh.

"What I didn't lie," she smirks at me.

We get back to work and forty-five minutes later we were finishing up. As I close the drawer on the filing we hear a car pull up and park. We look at each other then walk outside. We see the guys climbing out of the van and none of them look particularly happy. The guys walk into the club house but Clay walks over to Gemma. "Thanks for calling Rossin, otherwise we'd have been there forever," he says kissing her. He then turns and raises an eyebrow at me. "And do I even want to know what you are doing here?" he asks.

"Oh, you know. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop and say hi. Chat about the weather and all that good stuff," I say smiling at him.

"Weather," he laughs and turns and walks into the club house.

"Come on sweetheart, let's get a cup of coffee," Gemma smiles and leads me back into the office.

_Tig's Point of View_

I had been sitting in a cell for about two hours before they took me to an interrogation room. I sit here waiting and watching the clock. It is now 4:30 and I'm definitely late now. I lean back in my chair and just watch time go by. 4:30 slowly turned into 5:30 and the clocks' ticking gets interrupted by the door opening. And my, oh my, "Agent Stahl always a pleasure," I drawl.

"Mr. Tragger," she says sitting down across from me. "I'm guessing you know why you're here."

"No, I've been a very good boy lately," I say.

She smiles at me, "Oh I'm not so sure about that. You see the other day a warehouse was blown up and three men found dead. You and your friends just happened to be in the area that exact same day, and the men happen to be Darby's."

"Coincidence," I smirk.

"You know I never have believed in coincidences," she says leaning forward. "You killed those men and blew up that warehouse. I just want to know why. What did those men do to piss you guys off?"

Just then Rosen walks in. After arguing with Stahl for thirty minutes she was forced to release us. Unser called Gemma, and twenty minutes later Juice showed up with the van. The ride to the garage was quiet. As soon as we arrived we all climbed out of the van and headed into the clubhouse. Man I need a drink. Its 7:00 now and all my plans have been ruined. I slump onto a stool at the bar and growl at the prospect to get me a beer.

"Your girl looks good tonight," Juice says sitting next to me.

"What do you mean?" I growl at him. I'm not in the mood to be messed with right now.

"He means that gorgeous girl of yours is currently having coffee with my wife in the office." Clay says walking up to the bar. "You know I think their date is going better then yours right now," he laughs.

"You all are seriously fucked up," I say drinking my beer. Natalie isn't here; I would have seen her when we got here.

"Fine your loss," Juice says getting up from next to me.

I just continue to sit here at the bar. "What are we going to do about Stahl," I ask.

"I don't know, we'll talk about it tomorrow. Go get your girl," Clay says to me.

I still don't believe that she is here, but it can't hurt to go check. After a minute of debate I stand up and head for the door. If they are just fucking with me I'll take off. I walk out of the club house and head towards the office. I can hear Gemma laughing that must be good right? I open the office door and see Gemma sitting at her desk laughing and holding a cup of coffee. I look at the chair in front of her and can't believe it.

_Natalie's Point Of View_

Gemma and I are in her office laughing about a story I had told her about Gus almost blowing up the diner with one of his inventions. I heard the office door open and Gemma's smile widen so I turn around and see a shocked Tig.

"You know proper protocol is the guy is supposed to pick the girl up from her house for a date," I smile and stand up. "But I'll let it slide this time," I say walking up to him.

"Sorry, I guess I forgot that rule," he says smiling down at me. He wraps his arms around me and leans down to lightly kiss me.

"So," Gemma says breaking us apart, "you two gonna block my doorway the rest the night, or are you gonna take this girl on a date?"

Tig looked up at her then down at me and frowned. "It's too late to do what I had planned," he says apologetically.

"It's alright," I smile. He is quiet for a moment just starring at me. Then a huge smile appears on his face. "What's on your mind Creepy," I ask.

"You feel like going for a ride Kid?" he asks still smiling.

"Absolutely," I say remembering that first ride he gave me.

"Let's go," he smiles and turns to walk out of the office, keeping one arm around my waist.

I quickly turn towards Gemma who is sitting at her desk shaking her head at us. "Thank you Gemma, see you later." I tell her following Tig outside. Tig leads me over to his bike, not once letting me go.

He lets go of my waist to pick up his helmet that is hanging on his bike. "Here you go," he says turning towards me. He puts the helmet on my head and laughs at me while I glare at him.

"Do you know how long it took me to do my hair," I ask pouting.

"You know you look kind of cute like this," he laughs. I just smile at him as he gets on his bike. I get on behind him and wrap my arms around his waist. He starts his bike and heads out of the parking lot. He drives through town and of course takes the curbs a bit fast causing me to hold onto him a bit tighter and to laugh. About twenty minutes later I can barely make out the You Are Now Leaving Charming sign because it's dark now. Another twenty minutes and he pulls into a gas station. He pulls up next to a gas pump and turns the engine off. He gets off the bike and turns to me, "Quick stop then we'll be on our way," he says leaning down and kissing me.

Before I know it he is walking into the gas station and walking up to the clerk. I smile as I watch him. I look over as I see a car pull up in front of Tigs bike. What appears to be three arrogant rich boys get out of the car. One starts whistling at me while the other two leer. "Mhmhmh, what do we have here," the one who whistled at me says. I just ignore him and look over to station seeing Tig putting his wallet back in his pocket. "You got a name," the idiot asks me.

I just continue to ignore him and watch Tig. Tig looks up at me and smiles, then glares as he sees the idiots walking up to the bike. "Come on someone as beautiful as you must have a name," the whistling idiot says leaning against Tig's bike.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I say looking at him.

"And why is that sweetheart?" he asks.

"Because your about to get your ass kicked," I smirk.

"Oh really," him and his friends laugh.

"Really," Tig says from behind him. The guys stop laughing and turn to see a smirking Tig standing behind them. "Now you three did a couple things wrong, allow me to educate you. First you approached my girl. Second you touched my bike. Third you're just standing there when you should be running."

"Oh ya," the whistler says. "Why would we be running?"

Tig just smiles at him before punching him and breaking his nose. The guy's friends looked over at Tig and stepped back. Wow nice to know your friends got your back. "Go get your gas at the next station," Tig says walking over to the pump. The guys grab their friend, toss him in the car and take off.

I look over at Tig and he is avoiding my stare. I sigh and get off the bike and stand next to him as he pumps the gas. "What's wrong Creeps?" I ask softly

"Nothing," he mumbles. I nudge him to let him know I know that he is lying. "I hate you seeing me like that," he sighs putting the gas nozzle back. He just stares at the gas pump.

"Alex," I sigh and wrap my arms around him from behind. "What I saw was a man protecting **his** woman. You just punched the guy and when you could of done more damage and you didn't. I felt safe and it doesn't hurt that this extremely sexy guy stood up for me, and called me **his** girl." I smile against his back.

He turns around to me and starts to laugh. "You really are cute," he says tapping the helmet that I still am wearing. I just smile up at him. "Did I tell you how gorgeous you look?" he asks.

"No you haven't," I pouted. He laughs soft and leans down to place a soft kiss on my lips.

"Come on I can't take you where I had planned, but I think you'll like where we are going now." He says and gets on his bike.

I get on behind him and hold on tight as he starts the engine back up. A little while later we are in the town in between where I live and Charming. We have just passed the diner where Gemma and I had eaten this morning. I smile as I see him pull up to fair ground. I remember Ava telling me last night about the carnival coming here. Tig parks his bike and turns off the engine, he then gets off his bike and holds his hand out to me. When I am standing in front of him he takes his helmet off of me and hangs it on his bike. He turns back to me and softly laughs.

"What," I ask smiling up at him.

"Nothing," he laughs smoothing my hair out. "Come on, let's go have some fun." I laugh as he puts his arm around my shoulders leading me to the ticket booth. He buys some tickets and asks, "So what first?"

"Hmmm, the roller coaster," I smile up at him.

"Alright," he sighs making me laugh.

We have ridden the roller coaster twice, the bumper cars, the Farris wheel, and shockingly the merry go round. I got him to go in the photo booth with me. The first picture is of us smiling, the second of us kissing, and the last one Tig made a funny face and I was laughing. Right now we are walking around sharing cotton candy. "This has been the best date ever," I say as he puts his arm around my shoulders.

"Sure," he laughs.

"No really it has been," I smile looking up at him. "You know what could make it better?"

"What," he laughs.

"If you would win that huge stuffed lion over there," I say pointing at the booth just ahead of us.

"And how will you get it back to your house?" he asks curiously. I hadn't thought of that.

"Maybe just a small one then," I say tugging him to the booth.

It's one of those where you have to throw the dart and pop the balloons. Tig gives some money to the man running the booth. In the end I got a small purple lion to take home with me.

"Alright come on Kid it's time to head home," he says leaning down to lightly kiss me.

"Ok," I pout realizing it was nearing 11:30.

He takes my hand and leads me through the parking lot to where he parked his bike. He hands me the helmet and I get on after him. We drive the thirty minutes back to my house. I spent the time enjoying the cool night and the speed. Really getting to ride with him is amazing. He pulls up to my house and we both get off his bike. I hand him his helmet and he hangs it on the bike once again. Tig follows me up to the front door and I realize that I left my purse with everything in it at the garage. I start to laugh and Tig looks at me like I've lost it. "I left my purse with my phone, wallet, and keys in it at the garage."

"Shit," Tig says looking down at my lion that he was holding for me. "Here I can pick the lock. Do you have a hair pin?"

"Yep," I say reaching up to the side of my head where I had pinned my bangs to the side. I hand him the pin and he gets to work. I no time the door is open. "A man of many talents," I laugh and go inside to put in the security code.

"Don't you know it," he says as I walk back out side with him.

"It's late do you want to use the guest room," I ask.

"Nah, I'll be fine," he says gently pushing the hair out of my face. "Will you be ok by yourself? I can still drop you off at Gus and Ava's."

"I'll be fine, the alarm system is back to working." I look up at him and smile. "I had a great night."

"Me too, even if it wasn't what I had planned." He says wrapping his arms around my waist. He leans down and kisses me only stopping when we both need to breathe. "Goodnight Kid," he whispers kissing my cheek and handing me my lion.

"Night Creepy," I say softly. He watches as I walk inside and lock the doors. As I put the alarm on I hear his bike start up. I smile to myself as I walk to my bedroom thinking about tonight. I walk inside my room and place my lion on my bed. I knew a date with Tig would be unique. I change into my pajamas and get in bed. It's not long before I fall asleep.


	16. An Amazing Woman

I wake up to the sound of knocking. I groan as I open my eyes and look over at my alarm clock. Its eight o'clock in the morning, whoever it is, is trying to torture me. I slowly get up out of bed and walk to my door. As I make my way down the hall way the knocking turns into banging. "I'm coming," I yell. I open the door and see Ava standing there smiling at me holding a take out box.

"Good morning sunshine," she laughs taking in my disheveled appearance.

"Morning," I say letting her come inside. "At the risk of sounding rude, what are you doing here so early in the morning?"

"Didn't you get my message last night?" she asks walking into the living room and sitting on the couch. I sit next to her and she hands me the take out box. "I left a message on your cell phone."

"Oh," I sigh. "I kind of forgot my cell, wallet, and purse at the garage last night."

"What garage?" she asks in that 'you better not lie to me if you know what's good for you' tone of voice.

"There was a problem with the guys, so Gemma took me with her to Teller-Morrow." I tell her honestly. "Then Tig and I left for our date from there."

She looks at me for a moment as if to see if I was lying to her. "Alright," she finally says. "Well I left you a message for you to be up early so we could go and visit Mr. Gregory."

"I would love that," I say jumping up and heading to my room.

"Where are you going," Ava laughs from the living room.

"To get ready," I say like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't you want breakfast first," she asks still laughing.

I turn around and calmly walk back to the living room. "I guess I got a little excited," I say sitting back down next to her.

"Maybe just a little bit," she says softly agreeing with me.

It took me twenty minutes to eat, Gus had sent over some waffles with his homemade strawberry syrup for me. After I finished eating I ran to my room, took a quick shower and changed my clothes. I decided to wear blue jeans, with a light gold halter top that has white lace over the top part. I put on my light gold peep toe pumps, a gold bracelet that has antique looking heart charms on it; I pulled my hair into a messy bun, and put on some lip gloss. After I finish putting my lip gloss on I quickly made my bed. As I am straightening the covers I see my lion that Tig won for me last night, and smile. I place it in the center of my bed against the pillows. As I walk out of my room and down the hall I hear Ava on her phone.

"Well I'll just drop her off to visit with Mr. Gregory, and then come and pick up her purse from you," I hear her say. "Oh, alright then I guess we'll see you there…. Uh huh…. of course…. bye."

"I'm ready," I say walking into the living room causing her to jump.

"Juice is right we are buying you that bell," she says and we both laugh. "Come on then, Gemma is gonna meet us at the hospital while she takes her grandson for a check up."

"Cool," I say following her out of the house. While she walks to her car to open it, I lock my door. As soon as I finish I walk to her car and get in. It doesn't take long before we hit the highway heading towards Charming.

We arrived at the hospital five minutes ago and head inside to find out which room Mr. Gregory is in. The nurse gives us the room number, but stares at me the entire time we are talking to her. "Ava is there something wrong with how I'm dressed," I ask as we wait for the elevator to arrive.

"No sweetheart, why do you ask," she says turning to look me over.

"The entire time we were over there that nurse just stared at me." I say looking over my shoulder back at the nurse who is now quietly talking with another nurse at the desk.

"I don't know, come on," she says as the elevator doors open. We step on and push the button to take us to Mr. Gregory's floor. The whole trip up Ava was quiet, a very uncomfortable quiet. Finally the doors open at the right floor and we walk into the hallway. "You know what Nat, why don't you go ahead and I'll catch up."

"Ok, but where are you going," I ask confused.

"I have a friend who works here and I'm just going to go say hi," she says smiling at me. I just shrug and turn towards the opposite direction looking for the right room.

Finally after five minutes of searching and going in the wrong direction twice I find Mr. Gregory's room. He is sitting back watching the news, "How are you feeling," I ask quietly so I don't startle him.

He looks over at me as I enter the room and walk towards the bed and gasps. "Natalie my dear is that you?"

"Yes it's me," I say leaning down to kiss his cheek. "How are you feeling," I ask sitting down in the chair next to his bed.

"I'm doing fine, but what in the world happened to you?" he asks worriedly.

"I got in a fight with some girl," I lie.

He looks over at me with a disapproving look. "I may be old, but I'm not stupid. Now tell me the truth."

I sigh and look over at him. "Some men broke into my house and kidnapped me. If it wasn't for those bikers who have been coming to the diner lately I would have had more than these bruises."

"Oh, my dear," he says and pats my hand. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a small headache. Now how are you really doing?" I ask changing the subject back to him.

"I'm fine, just a bit restless. They are going to send me home in a couple days," he smiles.

"Well then that is definitely good news I say," smiling at him. "So have you gotten any of the nurse's number yet?" I ask causing him to laugh.

"Of course, I've been beating them off with a stick. I say no but they just keep on coming back," he says and we both laugh. "No, there will never be another that will compare to my Emily."

"Emily?" I ask.

"Yes, my late wife. She has been gone for almost five years now," he says.

"How long were you married?"

"Oh, seems like forever," he smiles and has a look on his face like he is looking back in time. "We were married for almost 50 years, and not a day goes by that I don't miss her. Would you like to hear a short version of our story?"

"I'd love to," I say getting comfortable in my seat.

"We met when we were young in grade school. She was the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen. I still remember the first time I saw her when I was 10 years old. She was wearing a blue dress and had ribbons tying her beautiful blond hair back. She was laughing at something and I can still see how brightly her blue eye shone. I was so scared to talk to her so I loved her from a far. Finally I had found the courage to ask her on a date when we were in high school. She said yes before I even finished asking," he says and laughs at the memory. "We were inseparable from that time on. When we were twenty I asked her for her hand in marriage. I remember when I had gone to speak to her father earlier that week he had threatened me with a shot gun if I ever hurt her. I was so terrified of that man; he could send a bear running with just one look. She said yes and we got married and had three wonderful children. We stayed together through the good and bad times, mostly good. We found out she had cancer too late to do anything about it. I took care of her the best I could those last six months. She stayed strong all the way to the end." He says with tears in his eyes. "You remind me a lot of her," he says looking at me. "Her young and adventurous spirit, her love of life and family, I see so much of her in you."

"She sounds like a she was an amazing woman," I say with tears in my eyes.

"Oh, she was. She was so giving and loving it makes my heart ache," he says and smiles at me. "I hardly get to see my children anymore. Their all grown and live different places, I get phone calls all the time and letters, but it just isn't the same. I come to the diner because I like the company and you all have become a family of sorts to me."

"You know I feel the same way, about you being family I mean." I smile and get up to give him a hug.

As I sit down he asks, "So how are things between you and that biker."

"What biker?" I ask

"The one that rescued you from that buffoon," he says with a knowing look.

"Great," I sigh with a smile forming on my face causing him to laugh. "He took me out on a date last night."

"Where did he take you?" he asks eagerly.

"He took me to the carnival the next town over, and we had so much fun," I say smiling. "He even won me a small purple lion."

For the next hour we just talked and laughed. I hadn't realized how much I had missed his company. It wasn't until a nurse brought Mr. Gregory his food that I realized Ava never joined us. Hmm maybe her and her friend got caught up talking. After Mr. Gregory finishes his lunch he begins to look tired. "I'm gonna go so you can get some rest," I tell him leaning down to give him a hug and kiss his cheek.

"Alright my dear, I'll see you soon," he says starting to doze off. I smile and walk out of the room. As I am walking down the hall way towards the elevator I see Tara walking towards me.

"Hi," she says smiling at me.

"Hi," I answer back.

"Ava told me to tell you she is downstairs."

"Ok thank you," I say walking past her to push the button to call the elevator.

"How are you feeling," she asks standing next to me.

"I'm feeling good," I say starting to feel a bit awkward.

"That's good," she says as the elevator doors open. "Well I guess I'll see you around."

"Ya, sure," I say stepping onto the elevator. She smiles and waves as the doors close. I ride the elevator downstairs, and don't see Ava. So I walk outside maybe she is out there. As I walk out the doors I see Ava talking to Gemma who is standing behind a stroller, with Clay, and Tig. They are all talking and things look a bit tense. "Hi," I say walking up to them.

"Hey Natalie," Gemma says smiling at me. Clay and Tig just nod their heads at me.

"Hey Natalie how is Mr. Gregory?" Ava asks.

"He's doing well, he gets to come home in a couple days," I say smiling. "Is everything ok?" I ask seeing that they are all still tense.

"Everything is fine baby girl," Gemma says. "I have your purse in my car; if you want you can walk with me to get it."

"Ok," I say sensing this is them trying to get rid of me. I follow Gemma as she pushes the stroller towards her car. "Is this your grandson?" I ask.

"Yep, this is baby Abel," she says smiling. "They just need to talk; he isn't brushing you off or anything?"

"Huh?" I ask confused.

"I know that you know I'm just getting you away from that conversation," she says looking over at me.

"Oh, I know. I understand completely," I say walking with her. "It doest bother me I could sense the conversation going on wasn't meant for me to hear when I walked up."

"Perceptive little thing aren't you," she says slightly laughing. We stop at her car and she unlocks the trunk, she leans in and grabs my purse, then hands it to me. "That phone of yours wouldn't stop ringing, I can only take so much Lady Gaga as a ring tone," she says causing me to laugh.

"Thank You," I say pulling my phone out of my purse to find that it was turned off. I try to turn it on but nothing happened. Oh well, I guess the battery must have died.

"So how was your date?" she asks leaning against her car.

"It was amazing. He took me to the carnival." I say and she smiles. For the next couple minutes I fill her in on how the date went.

"So your friends doing alright."

"Yes, I really miss him, so it was nice getting to visit with him." I say smiling.

"Hey babe," Tig says wrapping his arms around me from behind.

"Hi," I say turning my head to the side so I can look up at him.

"Sorry about that back there," he begins

"But its club business, I understand," I say smiling up at him.

He just smirks down at me before he leans down and gently kisses me. "You really are something else," he smiles down at me.

"I know you all keep telling me that," I tease.

"Careful now don't want her to get a big head," Gemma laughs.

"I know I kind of like the shape of your head the way it is. Though it is kind of misshapen in the back," Tig teases making Gemma and I laugh.

"Aw as much as I hate to break up this special moment," Clay says walking up to us, "but we gotta go."

"Alright," Tig sighs squeezing me a little tight. "I'll see you later," he says kissing me one more time before he lets me go. He smiles then turns and walks toward his bike.

"See you later babe," Clay says to Gemma kissing her cheek and follows Tig.

"By Clay," I call after him. He just shakes his head and keeps walking causing Gemma and I to laugh.

"Hey Ava how about we all go get some lunch," Gemma says as Ava walks up to us.

"Sounds like a plan, I know I'm hungry," she says.

"Alright I'll meet you both at the restaurant around the corner," Gemma says as she reaches inside the stroller and picks Abel up to put him in the car.

"Do you need any help," I ask.

"Nah, I got it. Go on ahead; I'll be there in a few minutes."

Ava and I nod our heads then walk over to Ava's car. We both get in and it's a quiet ride to the restaurant. I can tell Ava is upset about something. "Do you want to talk about it," I ask as we get out of the car.

"It's nothing," she says walking towards the restaurant. We walk inside and the waitress leads us to a table in the back. "Oh by the way we open back up on Tuesday," she says sitting down.

"That's great; I guess the plumber fixed everything."

"Yes thank goodness, I don't know what those guys were thinking trying to fix that pipe by themselves," she laughs.

"Hello," Gemma says walking up to us holding a baby carrier.

"Hi," I smile, and Ava just nods her head.

"So this is baby Abel, I didn't exactly get to see him earlier," I say smiling at the adorable baby.

"Yes," she says sitting the carrier down on the table.

"He is adorable," Ava says making faces at the baby, which caused the baby, Gemma, and I to laugh.

"Good afternoon ladies, can I get you something to drink?" our waitress asks walking up to the table. She then hands each of us a menu.

"I'll have an ice tea," Ava says.

"I'll have the same," Gemma says.

"I'll have lemonade," I say.

"Ok I'll be right back with those," the waitress says.

"You know you keep drinking lemonade and you are going to eventually turn into a lemon," Ava teases me.

"Hahaha," I sarcastically laugh.

_Tig's Point of View_

I kissed Nat one more time before turning and walking to my bike. I know I've got some stuff to take care of right now and I need to keep my head straight. Damn she looks gorgeous today. That gold color looks nice on her; the only thing that was off was the bruises. I'm still pissed that she even has one marring her skin. Finally I reached my bike and get on.

"So we have to go meet with Laroy and the boys, Happy and Jax are bringing the order and will meet us there." Clay says getting on his bike.

"Alright let's do this," I say starting my engine.

We are so fucked, our simple drop off has turned into a fucking disaster. As we were handing the guns over to Laroy and his men the Mayan's showed up. Right now Clay, Jax, Happy, and I are behind a wooden box shooting at the Mayans that are shooting at us.

"We need to get out of here," Jax yells at us.

"I know but we're kind of stuck at the moment," Clay yells back trying to reload his gun.

"Fuck this shit, Tig you take that side I got this one. Jax, Clay you two run towards the van," Happy yells to us. I nod and get ready.

Happy and I run from behind the wooden box shooting as we go. I see Clay and Jax run towards the van. As they jump in I vaguely hear Happy yell at me to get in the van. I run backwards and jump in the side door after Happy, as we speed off and close the door a bullet grazes my arm. "Shit," I yell falling backward as Jax takes a sharp turn.

"Everyone ok," Clay asks.

"I'm good," Happy says sitting across from me.

"Just a graze, other than that I'm good," I say.

"Alright, when we get back we're having Church. We're taking care of this shit now," Clay says glaring out the window. Things are about to get interesting and a whole lot more complicated.


	17. Just My Luck

_Tig's Point Of View_

We arrived at the club house 30 minutes later and my arm hurts like a son of a bitch. I grabbed one of the rags that was left in the van and used it for my arm. Happy looked at it and it is just a graze, but it's bleeding quite a bit. I'm going to have to have Chibs take a look at it. Jax, Clay, Happy, and I get out of the van and walk into the club house. As we walk in the rest of the guys look over at us.

"Shit what happened to you guys," Piney asks from the bar.

"We got to talk, get everyone here," Clay says walking over to the bar.

"Where's Chibs," I ask still holding the rag on my arm.

"Right here," I hear him answer from behind me. As I turn towards him he looks down at the bloody rag. "Shit, come on I'll take a look at that." He says walking towards a table near the pool table. "Prospect go get me the first aid kit," Chibs calls over to Kip who is behind the bar.

The bullet got me up by my shoulder so I took my cut and shirt off so Chibs could patch me up. As I finish taking my shirt off the prospect walks up with the first aid kit and a bowl of water with a rag. Chibs takes the wet rag and starts to clean the wound causing me to hiss. "Easy there princess it isn't even that bad," Chibs taunts. I just glare at him and wait for him to finish.

As Chibs finishes wrapping my arm Oppie shows up so we can start the meeting. The prospect starts to clean up the table as Chibs and I head into the room and to our seats. Before I sit down I put my shirt and cut back on and Jax tosses a cigarette at me. I light it and Clay starts the meeting.

"Today the Mayans showed up while we were dropping the guns off to Laroy. This shit is going to stop and it's going to stop now." Clay says. Looks like it's the start of another fucking Mayan war, and I have much more to lose this time around. Looks like I have all of the luck.

_Natalie's Point of View_

Lunch with Gemma lasted for about and hour and a half. The conversation was light and fun. She and Ava told me stories about a younger Gus who seems to have changed very little over the years. All too soon it was time for Ava and me to head home. We are about ten minutes away from my house and I am so ready for a nap.

"You awake over there sweetheart?" Ava asks lightly laughing as she notices me leaning my head against the window.

"Yep," I say and then yawn.

"Good, because even though you're a tiny little thing I doubt I could carry you," she smiles over at me.

She pulls up in my driveway and we both just sit in the car for a moment. I can tell she wants to tell me something. "What is it," I softly ask.

"It's nothing; I'm just a bit restless." I can hear the lie in her voice.

"Ava you have been worried all day, not to mention you disappeared at the hospital. I'm not dumb, please tell me what's wrong," I plead with her.

"I know you're not dumb," she says staring straight ahead. "I, I, I'll tell you about it later sweet pea alright," she says turning to look at me with a weak smile. I can see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Ok, when you are ready to talk I'm all ears. I love you Ava, you're like a mother to me and I don't know what I would do without you," I say leaning over and hugging her.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," she says hugging me tightly. "Now I have to get home and make sure Gus hasn't blown the house up," she laughs.

I laugh and let her go. "I'll see you on Tuesday."

"Bright and early," she says as I get out of the car. I pick up my purse and close the door. I walk up my driveway and as I am walking up the steps I hear her car leave. Something isn't right, and I have a bad feeling. I unlock my door and walk inside my house, I feel very lonely all of a sudden. Before being alone after a day of being surrounded by people would have been welcomed, but now I just feel lonely.

I walk down the hallway and walk inside my room. I take my phone out of my purse and put it on the charger next to my bed. I sit down on my bed and pick up my new lion. I need a name for him. "Hmm, I think I'll call you Alex," I say to the lion. For some reason it seems fitting seeing how Tig won him for me, and Alex is Tig's real name. I set Alex aside and take my shoes off placing them under the bed for the moment. I then pick Alex back up and lay down on my bed holding him close as I fall asleep.

" _Dad, this place is a death trap," I say looking around the building he had just rented for his practice. The ceiling had caved in, in one room. The walls had graffiti on them, and I'm pretty sure I saw a rat run across the room._

" _Oh it's not so bad," he says smiling at me. "Just think of it Nat, that room back there will be my office, over there the waiting room. We can fix this place up and finally help all of those people."_

" _You know what? Its perfect daddy," I say walking over to him and hugging him. "Even if Mickey Mouse is one of your tenants," I say and we both laugh._

" _Hey you two, this place is great huh Nat?" Mom says walking over to me a dad. "I invited June over to dinner tonight," she says kissing dad's cheek._

" _Why," dad whines and I laugh. "That woman if you can even call her that is such a ..."_

_Mom covers his mouth before he can finish. "She is my partner and friend. We are finishing up a case so she will be joining us for dinner. You two are to be on your best behavior, understood?" Both dad and I nod. Mom takes her hand off his mouth and says, "Good, now let's go home."_

_Dad and I follow mom outside, mom and I wait so dad can lock the door to the building. Then we all walk over to the cars parked in the parking lot closest to the door. "Why don't you ride home with your mom kiddo, that way you can tell her about your day," dad says hugging me to his side._

" _Alright daddy, I can eat in my room tonight right," I ask quietly._

" _Sure sweetheart, I'll find some reason to punish you so you have to stay in your room," he says conspiringly. I smile at him and walk over to my mom's car and get in._

" _So how was school?" she asks as I close the car door, and buckle my seat belt._

" _It was good," I say looking at her." I got an A on that history report, and apparently my P.E teacher now believes in miracles because I didn't end up in the nurse's office after playing dodge ball."_

" _Sounds like you had a very productive day," she laughs._

_The fifteen minute drive back to our house passed in a blur with mom and I singing along to the music on the radio. We pull into the driveway at our house and get out of the car. Dad pulled up as we are walking up to the door. Mom unlocks it and we walk inside. As I walk to my bedroom I hear dad come in and say, "Thank you both for waiting for me. I just love walking all by myself," I can my mom laugh at him. I go in my room and sit on my bed. I pick up my backpack off of the floor by my bedside table and pull out my note book, and my math book. I open my book to the right page and start my homework._

" _I wanna kiss you, but if I do then I might miss you, babe._ It's complicated and stupid Got my ass squeezed by sexy Cupid" I wake up to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I sit up and pick up my cell from the bedside table. I unplug the charger and look at the caller ID seeing its Tig calling me. "Hi," I say with sleep in my voice.

"Hey were you asleep," he asks.

"I was just napping, what's up?" I ask.

"Nothing much, are you at home or over at Ava's?"

"I'm home, why?" I ask wondering what's going on.

"Well you see right now I am standing on an extremely sexy woman's porch and was wondering if you could help me get her to answer the door."

"Oh really," I say getting off my bed and walking out of my bed room. "Why would I help you?" I ask walking up to my front door.

"Hmm because I brought dinner," he says and I can hear him through the door. I open the front door and see him smirking at me, holding a paper bag. "Never mind," he says into his phone. "I got her to open the door all on my own."

I laugh and hang up my phone. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise," I say stepping in front of him.

"Well I just happened to be in the neighborhood," he smiles and leans down to kiss me. I go to wrap my arms around his neck and brush against his upper arm causing him to hiss.

"What's wrong," I ask looking at his arm.

"Nothing babe, lets go inside," he says nodding towards my house. I walk in and he follows me after closing the door. I walk in the living room and see that according to the clock it is now six thirty. I sit down on the couch and Tig sits next to me setting the bag on the coffee table. "What happened to your arm," I ask turning towards him looking at his right arm.

"Club stuff," is all he says and reaches over and pulls me to him. He pulls me onto his lap and sits back.

"I can tell it hurts, do you need anything?" I ask worriedly.

"Nah I'm good," he says smiling at me.

"If you're sure," I say softly looking in his eyes.

He lifts his hand and gently pushes the hair out of my face. It must have come loose as I napped. He leans forward and gently kisses me. As we lose ourselves in the kiss I can barely make out the sound of ringing. I think it's a new game people are playing, the "Who Can Interrupt Natalie and Tig Moments" game. Tig gently pulls away and reaches into his pocket. "This had better be good," he says into his cell phone sounding slightly out of breath. "I'm already in town," he says but keeps eye contact with me. "Sure, I'll pick it up in the morning. Alright by," he says and closes his phone, then puts it back in his pocket. He gently runs his hands through my hair and continues to stare at me. "You know I really do love that color on you," He says glancing down at my top.

"Do you now," I say.

"Uh huh," he smiles.

"So what did you bring me to eat," I ask.

"Why don't you check," he smirks.

I get off his lap and sit down next to him reaching for the bag on the coffee table. I open it and see he brought two cheese burgers and fries. "Aw, my favorite," I say standing up.

"Where are you going," he asks sounding confused.

"To get us some napkins and drinks is coke ok?" I ask walking by him.

"Sounds good," he says.

I walk into the kitchen and grab some napkins off of the counter. I then walk to the fridge and take out two cans of coke. After I have everything I walk back into the living room to find Tig going though my DVD collection. I put the napkins and drinks down on the coffee table as Tig turns to me, "So A Nightmare on Elm St, or Halloween," he asks holding up both of the movies.

"Freddy," I say sitting down on the couch. He puts the movie in the DVD player, turns off the light, and comes and sits next to me. He sits down and I pick up the bag, I pull out my fries and hand the bag of food to him. I start to munch on my fries as the movie starts. This is one of my favorite movies.

We are now watching IT and it is almost over, I am curled up against Tig with his arm wrapped around me. I jump at a suspenseful moment and Tig laughs. "What's so funny, by watching this movie I'm going to terrified to go near any drains," I pout. "And what about clowns? Those things are so going to freak me out."

"I seriously doubt that," he laughs.

"Oh and why do you say that," I question him.

"Because kid, that DVD cover is the most beat up out of all of the ones over in that cabinet," he points out.

"I don't know what you mean," I say resting my head against his shoulder. I must have fallen asleep at some point because when I open my eyes I see that I am in my bedroom. I am snuggled up against Tig in my bed. I look over at my alarm clock and see that it's four o'clock am.

"Go back to sleep," Tig mumbles sleepily tightening his hold on me.

"Aw Tig did you carry me to bed," I lightly tease, smiling up at him.

"The last time we fell asleep on your couch my neck hurt for hours. I figured we'd both be more comfortable here," he says softly as if he is struggling to stay awake. I softly laugh and reach up and kiss his chin. I then rest my head against his chest and fall back asleep.

_Tig's Dream_

_I'm at a hospital and walking around what has to be the lower levels. I haven't seen anyone walking around, I haven't even heard a sound other than my own foot steps. Its cold and the lights are flickering. As I walk around a corner I see a door closing. I guess there is someone down here after all. I slowly walk up to the door and reach for the handle. As I go to grasp the handle the door slowly opens. I gently push the door the rest of the way open and walk inside. I look around and see that I have walked into the morgue. I quickly turn to go back out the door but the door has disappeared. I cautiously turn back around and walk further into the room. There is a hospital gurney in the center of the room; I can see the shape of a body lying under a sheet. Slowly I walk up to the gurney, I don't want to but I can't stop myself from lifting the sheet. As I start to pull the sheet down I can feel my heart start to race. I look down and see Donna with a bullet hole in her forehead. I quickly drop the sheet and fall backwards onto the floor. As I start to crawl backwards Donnas' head slowly turns towards me and her eyes open._

" _What the matter Tig? Can't stand to look at your dirty work," she says smirking at me._

" _Donna, I'm so…" I start to say._

" _So what? So sorry, is that what you were going to say," she says then laughs. "You took away everything from me. My husband, my children, my life," she says bitterly. "Why is it I had to die, so you could live your pathetic life? I wonder what Natalie would say?" she says looking as is if she is contemplating something. "I wonder how she would react when she finds out who you really are."_

" _Donna it was an accident, I never meant to hurt you," I say starting to cry._

" _You didn't mean to, but you did," she glares. "You took away so much from me, now I'm going to take something from you," she says and glances down in front of me._

_I follow her gaze and see Natalie on the floor covered in blood. "No!" I scream getting up to kneel over her. I look over her body and it looks like she has been stabbed and cut all over. I lean over her and cry trying to wipe the blood off of her face. I can hear Donna laughing in the back ground. "No!" I scream out again._

_Tig_

_Tig_

"Tig baby wake up." I look up and see Natalie above me with her hands on my cheeks. "You were having a nightmare," she says softly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I say pulling her down to me so I can hold her.

"Do you want to talk about it," she asks resting her head against my chest.

"No, I'll be fine," I tell her and begin to stroke her hair. How can I tell her that I killed a woman, that I took a mother from her children? She would hate me if she ever found out. I sigh and close my eyes tightly. I open my eyes again and look down to see her gorgeous eyes staring back at me. "I'm fine, just let me hold you," I say softly. She gets comfortable and in no time falls back to sleep. I just hold and watch her as she sleeps.


	18. Ice Cream In The Morning

Up and down, up and down, hmm my pillow is moving. I slowly open my eyes and realize that my head is on Tig's chest. I look up and see that he is still asleep. I have decided this has to be my new favorite past time. I just lay here and watch him and he seems so relaxed. He kind of scared me last night when he had his nightmare. He was really shaken after I woke him up too. I hope he'll be ok.

" _You're_ creeping _me_ out," Tig mumbles slowly opening his eyes. "Do you know how hard it is to sleep while someone stares at you?"

"I can't help it, you're kind of cute when you sleep," I say softly laughing.

"Cute? No, Tig Trager is not described as cute," he growls at me.

"No you are definitely cute." I laugh.

"Oh, really?" he asks raising one eyebrow. I just nod smiling. All of a sudden he flips me over and starts to tickle me. "Am I still cute?" He asks laughing while attacking my ribs.

"Practically adorable," I laugh. After a few minutes I finally call uncle and he lays back down with me curling into his side.

"What time is it," he says rubbing his eyes.

I look over at my alarm clock, "About 8:00."

"I have something to take care of at 10," he says looking down at me.

"That means you have to leave soon then."

"Yes," he says softly.

"That sucks," I pout lying my head back down on his chest.

We lied in bed for a few more minutes, before I got up grabbed some clothes from my dresser, went into the bathroom and changed. I changed into some grey sweat pants and a white tank top. I brush my teeth and head out of the bathroom back into my room. As I walk in Tig is sitting on the side of my bed closing his phone. "So want some breakfast?" I ask walking up to him.

"Sure," he says reaching over for me pulling me onto his lap.

"Something wrong," I ask looking into his now worried eyes.

He sighs, "Things are going to be complicated for a while. I'm just worried about you getting thrown into the middle of it and getting hurt again." He looks at the wall behind me, "What if you come and help Gemma for a little while at the garage. I'll have peace of mind knowing that you're safe, and I, I."

"Tig," I say holding his face between my hands, "Don't worry about me."

"I have to worry about you. Damn I just met you and you're all I fucking think about," he says taking my hands off his face and holding them. "Damn it Nat I just about fucking lost it when I found out those pieces of shit took you. I don't understand this; normally I don't give a shit about any woman besides Gemma. You and her seem to be the only ones I can tolerate. What the hell is going on with me," he asks himself. He leans his forehead against mine and I just stare at him waiting for him to relax. "Your doing that creepy staring thing again," he says softly.

"Sorry, it's just your kind of cute when you're worried. Do you realize you cuss a lot when your upset," I smile at him.

"Damn it Nat I'm being serious," Tig says sounding irritated. "I want you to come back to Charming with me today."

"Tig," I say totally serious, "what about Gus and Ava? I have a job at the diner and they count on me."

"Clay is having them head up to Charming tomorrow. What's it gonna hurt if you leave today," he asks. This is new, when was this all decided.

"Alright, where am I going to stay? I don't have money for a hotel, hell I don't even have a car." I try to reason.

"You can stay with me and at the clubhouse," he says like it's obvious. "Please Nat; I can't do what I have to do if I am worried something is going to happen to you."

I look at him for a moment. I don't want him to get hurt because his mind is on me. Something big is about to happen I can feel it. Man Ava and Gus are probably going to kill me, "Alright, but you have to tell Ava and Gus."

"Good," he says and kisses me.

"How about I go make us some breakfast," I say getting up from his lap. I smile at him and walk out of my room.

As I walk into the kitchen my phone rings. I walk over to the house phone sitting on the kitchen counter, "Hello," I say picking up the wireless phone and walking over to the refrigerator.

"Natalie its Ava," I hear Ava say warily.

"Morning, what's going on?" I ask pulling the eggs and some bacon from the fridge.

"Gemma called me this morning, and she said that Clay wants all of us up in Charming by tomorrow. Gus and I will have a car full of stuff so do you think you could call Tig for a ride?" she asks.

Wow I think I just got really lucky. "Sure Ava I'm seeing him today so I can ask him." I didn't technically lie.

"Alright sweetheart, oh she said to pack for a couple days."

"Will do, see you tomorrow." I say putting the eggs and bacon on the counter.

"Alright, bye," she says and hangs up.

"Who are you seeing tomorrow?" Tig asks walking into the kitchen.

"Ava, I'm supposed to ask you to give me a ride to Charming, Gemma's orders," I smile at him.

"Well we can't ignore a direct order can we," he says walking towards me.

"I suppose not, besides if you don't take me and Gemma finds out…" I _shiver._ He walks up to me and wraps his arms around me. "So are you making breakfast?" I ask looking up at him, he just laughs and shakes his head no.

I make our breakfast that consists of scrambled eggs, bacon, and cinnamon toast. We use two stools and sit at the bar in the kitchen. "Not bad Kid," Tig says taking a bite of the cinnamon toast.

"Thanks Creepy," I smile.

We eat our breakfast and make small talk. When we finish he helps me do the dishes, I wash and he dries. All too soon it was 9:30 and he had to leave. "I'll be back by noon to pick you up," Tig says as we stand by the door.

"Alright," I say following him out onto the porch. I look in the drive way and instead of seeing his bike I see a truck. "Please tell me that is yours and not some scary stalker's."

"It's mine," he laughs. He leans down and kisses my cheek, then walks toward his truck. "Noon," he says before he gets in. I wave to let him know I heard. Moments later he drives away and I head back inside to pack a bag.

_Tig's Point Of View_

I drive away from Nat's house and heading for Gus's diner. I have to pick up some stuff that he has been storing for the club. This morning was relaxing and fun. Those two words are hardly ever used to describe morning's, hell even a day in my life. She just makes things seem so easy. I don't have to worry about being the feared Sergeant of Arms, the creepy guy, a killer for the club. I can just be me and know that she accepts me for who I am. I don't have to put up a front, it's nice for a change. That dream last night shook me up, especially with what's about to go down. I don't want her to get hurt; I'm not ready to lose her.

I pull into the diner's parking lot and see that Gus isn't here yet. I pull out a pack of cigarettes from my glove box and take one out. I light it and sit back, I hope Gus gets here soon. My phone starts ringing so I pull it out of my pocket and see that Clay is calling me. "Hey," I say as a greeting.

"Look I called Gus this morning he's bring the stuff up tomorrow so don't worry about seeing him," Clay says getting to the point.

"You couldn't have called me sooner," I ask a little irritated. Nat and I probably could have gone back to bed this morning.

"What it's not like you're sitting at the dinner already," Clay says and I remain quiet. "Oh you are," he says taking my silence as confirmation of where I am. "You went to see your little girl friend last night, that's why you high tailed it out of here after the meeting," he laughs.

"I'll see you later," I say hanging up the phone. Damn this has been a waste of my time. I toss my cigarette out the window and start up my truck. Ok I guess I'm heading back to Nat's not that I mind or anything.

_Natalie's Point Of View_

After I finish packing a couple of outfits and other necessities in my gym bag that is practically brand new I head into the bathroom for a bath. I start the water in the tub and pour in my favorite macadamia and peony soap. I sit on the side of the tub watching the bubbles form for a little while. I get undressed and get into the tub relaxing in all of the bubbles. Its like a sea of foam, I laugh. As I relax in my bath I hear a sound like a door is closing. Damn I forgot to relock the front door. I listen again to see if maybe I'm just psyching myself out. I don't hear anything else so I relax again sitting back and rest my head on the side of the tub.

Twenty minutes later I'm finished with my bath and am wrapping my towel around me. I didn't bring any clothes into the bathroom with me because no one is here. I open the bathroom door and walk into my bed room. I stop and see that Tig is asleep on my bed. He must have been the one that I heard come in. Good I'm not crazy, but I don't think I should continue standing here in just my towel. I quickly walk over to my dresser and take out some clothes and head over to my closet to quickly grab a top. As I close my closet door it bangs a little so I quickly look over at Tig to make sure I didn't wake him up. As I look over at the bed I see that Tig is still asleep, so I quickly walk back into my bathroom and close the door to get changed. As I close the door I swear I hear a chuckle.

I change into my light blue jeans that look like they have seen better days, a light grey baby doll tank top, my dark grey flip flops, I put on some lip gloss and mascara, and just brush my hair out leaving it down. I finish and open the bath room door walking into the bedroom. I look at Tig who is still on my bed asleep. I watch him for a moment and I can see that his breathing is too controlled. That only means one thing, he is awake. And that means I did hear him chuckle, which means he saw me running around my room in just a towel. I can feel my face heating up. Oh he is so going to pay. I see a glass of water sitting on the bedside table; he must have brought it in with him. Hmm I know exactly what I am going to do.

I walk over to the bed and look down at Tig, he is softly smiling. If I didn't know he was awake I would have thought he was having a good dream, but unfortunately I am going to "wake" him up. I smile to myself, and then I flop down so I am sitting on his stomach. He grunts and sits up a bit, "Oh my goodness I am so sorry. I kind of fell," I say trying to look innocent.

"It's alright babe," he says maneuvering us so that he is sitting up and I am sitting on his lap.

"You know my mouth is pretty dry could you please hand me that glass of water?" I ask slightly pouting.

"Sure," he says reaching over and picking up the glass, then handing it to me. I take a sip from the glass and smile at him. As soon as I am holding the glass with one hand I kiss Tig. As soon as he starts to reach for me I raise my hand holding the glass of water until it is over his head. Then I dump it on him causing him to pull away from me and sputter. "What the hell babe," he says looking at me like I've lost it.

I can only laugh as I watch him wipe the water off of his face with his shirt. "Well next time you decide to take a peek at me in only a towel you'll ask first." I say looking down at my now water splattered top.

"Well you should have taken clothes into the bathroom with you if you didn't want me to see anything." He makes a valid point.

"Well you weren't supposed to be back till noon," I point out. I look over at my alarm clock, "It's only 10:45."

"Ya, what I had to do was canceled. So we can head up to Charming early if that's alright with you," he says.

"That sounds like a plan," I say standing up. I walk over and grab my packed bag, "Let's get a move on Creepy," I say heading for the door.

"What's the hurry," Tig asks standing up.

"Well there is this killer ice cream pallor that is on the way and I figured we could stop there."

"Ice cream in the morning," he says like I have two heads.

"Is there a better time for it," I ask walking out of the bedroom. As I grab my purse from the coffee table in the living room, Tig walks up to me and takes my gym bag. He kisses my cheek then heads for the front door and walks outside. I set the alarm then walk outside and lock the door. Tig and I walk over to his truck and he puts my bag in the back before unlocking my door and opening it for me. I get in and he closes the door. I roll down the window as he gets in. I buckle my seat belt and we are off.

Twenty minutes later Tig and I are standing in line at the ice cream parlor. "Who would have thought this many people eat ice cream this early," he whispers into my ear, He is standing behind me with his hands on my hips. I just laugh and move along with the line. We are almost to the front when we hear, "Hey there Tigger." We look behind us and see a blonde man wearing a cut like Tigs.

"Shit," Tig mutters.

"I take it you know him," I softly say.

"Unfortunately," Tig says looking irritated. I wonder who this new guy is.


	19. Old Bat

" _Hey there Tigger." We look behind us and see a blonde man wearing a cut like Tigs._

" _Shit," Tig mutters._

" _I take it you know him," I softly say._

" _Unfortunately," Tig says looking irritated. I wonder who this new guy is._

Tig lets go of me and turns towards the other man. "Kozic," Tig says moving in front of me. "So what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Clay called yesterday afternoon, said he needed some help from Tacoma," this Kozic guy says trying to look behind Tig.

I turn when the lady behind the counter called next to me and Tig. I touch his arm and he turns his head to look at me. I just nod my head towards the counter. He nods at me and follows me up to the counter smirking back at Koz. Men, I just shake my head and smile at the lady. "What can I get you?" she asks.

"I will have the chocolate explosion milkshake," I say smiling at her.

"I'll have the," Tig stops for a moment to look at the menu, "same." He finally says after a long pause. I look back at him giving him a look that says you couldn't have just said that in the first place? He just smiles at me and pays the lady. We step to the side to wait for our order, and Tig glares at Kozic the entire time.

"Tig if you keep glaring like that your face is going to get stuck," I say causing Tig to look at me. "Is he a part of your club?" I ask.

"Yes, he's from the Tacoma charter," Tig says looking back at Kozic who is now walking over to us.

"So Tig, aren't you going to introduce us," Kozic says walking up to Tig and I looking me up and down.

"Natalie this is Kozik, Koz this is Natalie," Tig says wrapping an arm around my waist glaring at him.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you sweetheart," Kozik says winking at me.

"It's nice to meet you as well, but my name is Natalie not sweetheart," I say and Tig smirks at him. Kozik just smiles and shakes his head as the lady calls Tig and I over to pick up our order.

"See you later brother," Kozik says as we walk away from him. He and some other guys I hadn't seen walk out of the parlor.

Tig and I thank the lady and take our milk shakes outside. We sit a bench across from one another. "So you don't like him I take it," I say as Tig watches Kozik and five others drive off.

"There's just some bad blood between us, that's all." He says and I can tell he doesn't want to talk about it.

I nod and take a sip my milkshake. I start to moan as I enjoy the chocolaty goodness, making Tig look at me and laugh. "What," I ask taking another sip.

"Nothing, but I could get used to hearing that sound," he smirks at me as I turn a deep shade of red.

Twenty minutes and many innuendos later we are ready to get back on the road. I love this fun and relaxed Tig. We get into his truck and in no time we are on the highway. I reach over to turn on the radio so we can listen to some music, "What are you doing?" He asks.

"I am turning on the radio," I say slowly turning the power on. I turn the channel to a rock station and AC/DC is on. He laughs as I sing along to "Shook Me All Night Long". After the song finishes I look back over at Tig who is smiling and still slightly laughing. "What?" I ask.

"I never would have thought you would know that song and be able to sing it word for word," he says shaking his head.

"I happen to love all music especially rock," I smile at him. He laughs and takes one hand off the steering wheel and takes hold of one of mine. The rest of the way to Charming he holds my hand and laughs as I sing along to the music on the radio.

It wasn't long before we are passing the Welcome to Charming sign. We drive into town and past the garage, when this happens I look over at Tig. "We aren't stopping by the garage?" I question.

"Nope, we are making a quick stop before we go there," he says glancing at me.

"Ok," I say looking out the window. About fifteen minutes later we are driving through a residential area. It's a nice quiet neighborhood with kids playing on the street. Tig pulls into a driveway. The house is white with forest green trimming and door. There is a flower garden that lines the fence and small walkway that leads to the door. It's small and perfect.

As I was admiring the house Tig had turned off the engine, gotten out of the truck, and picked up my bag. He is now opening my door breaking me out of my daze. "So this is my house," he says smiling at me as I get out of the truck.

"It's beautiful," I smile at him as he takes my hand and leads me up to the door. He puts my bag down beside him and takes his keys out of his pocket. He unlocks the door and opens it nodding to tell me to go in. As I walk inside he picks up my bag and follows me closing the door behind him. I walk into the living room which has a flat screen TV, coffee table, and a couch.

"As you can tell this is the living room," he says taking my hand and leading me to the next room. "This is the kitchen," it has a table, stove, refrigerator, and sink. It's painted in a soft yellow color. He then leads me out and to the hallway, "This is the guest bedroom," he points out. It has soft blue walls and queen size bed that has a dark blue bed spread, and a dresser. He then leads me back into the hallway, "There is the bathroom," he says as we walk past it and to the last room, "And here is my bedroom," he says softly opening the door.

He opens the door and I am kind of shocked. The walls are a sage green color and there is a dresser that sits in front of the huge bed. The bed has a dark green cover and looks incredibly comfortable. The room has a big widow that is covered by white curtains. I never really pictured Tig to have a room like this. "You have a beautiful house Tig," I say turning to him as I walk backwards into the bedroom. He follows me in and places my bag next to the bed.

"Thank you," he says walking up to me and wrapping his arms around me. He leans down and gently kisses me. "So do you want to take a nap before we head over to the garage?" he asks.

"Hmm," I consider, "will you be taking a nap as well?" I ask looking up at him. He nods yes at me. "Then I would love to take a nap." I say smiling.

Next thing I know Tig is tossing me onto the bed. As I start to laugh because it was a bit of a shock. He crawls up onto the bed as I sit against the pillows. I laugh as he grabs my feet and takes off my shoes. As he puts them on the floor and starts to take his off I get comfortable and lay down. When he has finished he lies down and pulls me against him. I lay my head on his chest and look up at him. "So I figure about an hour nap, then we can head over to the garage," he says closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around me.

"Sounds good," I say closing my eyes. It's not long before Tig and I fall asleep.

_Tig's Dream_

_I'm on my bike with Natalie behind me on the open highway. I can here her laughter as I pick up speed on the open road. I can see the mountains in the distance and see the wild flowers in the fields as we drive by. The sun is out and it's a beautiful day. I have no idea where I am headed; all I know is that I am grateful that I have my girl with me. Could life get any better?_

" _Awww is Tig in a sentimental mood?" I hear from behind me. I glance back and see that Natalie is no longer behind me, Donna is. I lose control of my bike and go skidding across the road. As I lay on the side of the road Donna comes walking up to me laughing. "You should have seen your face," she laughs taking her helmet off. "Nice little dream your having here Tig."_

" _What's going on?" I ask sitting up._

" _Well Tig," Donna says sitting down next to me. "You were enjoying a nice little ride through the country with your girl, I popped up, you lost control of your bike, and here we are." She says like she is taking to a small child._

" _I know that, but what the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead." I say looking at her noticing the bullet hole is still in her forehead._

" _Oh I am dead, you made sure of that," she says looking ahead of us. "Since I am dead I can basically do whatever I want. I'm thinking I'm gonna haunt you. Keep you from fucking up more than you already have," she says turning back to me._

" _What if I don't want you sticking around," I ask staring back at her._

" _Well it doesn't really matter seeing as I am dead and in your subconscious," she says smirking at me. "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried."_

" _Great just what I need a pissed off dead woman haunting my dreams," I mutter to myself._

" _I know how lucky could you get," she says laughing._

I wake up and see Natalie is still asleep; I rub my hand over my face and look over at the clock on the bedside table. She has another twenty minutes before I have to wake her up. I slowly move out from under her and stand up. I walk out into my living room and sit down.

_Bang_

_Bang_

_Bang_

"If you don't stop pounding on my door I'm going pound on you," I yell getting up from the couch. I walk over to the front door and see Gemma standing there.

"Oh please do pound me," she laughs. "When did you get back in town?" She asks smirking at me.

"An hour maybe two ago," I say opening the door so she can walk in. "Why something wrong?"

"Oh no, I was just driving by," she says walking into the living room looking around.

"Driving by my ass," I say sitting down on the couch and picking up my pack of cigarettes on the table. I take one out and pass the pack to Gemma.

"Thanks," she says taking one and tossing the pack back on the table. "So you went and visited Nat last night huh." She says taking the lighter from me.

"So what if I did," I ask.

"Don't get so defensive," she says sitting back. "I think she'll be good for you."

"Ya, me too," I say quietly.

"So is she in the guest bedroom?" Gemma asks smiling.

"No, she is not."

"Damn it Tig you were supposed to bring her up here today," she says sounding irritated. "If you didn't I am going to…"

"Hey Gemma," Natalie says walking into the living room and sitting next to me on the couch.

"Hey sweetheart," Gemma says smiling at Nat.

"I thought you were going to wake me up," Natalie says to me yawning.

"Sorry babe, I heard this annoying banging sound and wanted to find out what it was first," I say smiling at her.

"What was it," she asks leaning against me.

"It was an old bat," I say smirking right before Gemma punches me in the arm.

"Ouch," I say slowly turning towards her.

"Old bat my ass," she mutters standing up. "Well since you both are up now, why don't you head over to the garage, Clay wants to see you."

"We'll be there in a bit," I tell her.

"You had better," she says walking to the door.

I look over at Nat who is smiling at me. "Did you sleep ok," I ask.

"Ya, your bed is comfy," she says.

"Thank you," I say putting my arm around her shoulder.

"How did you sleep," she asks.


	20. Rocky

I look down at Nat; I can't really tell her how I slept. If I do I'll have to tell her everything. I just don't think I can do that just yet. So I smile at her and say, "I slept great. I could get used to sleeping with you next to me."

Natalie starts to laugh, "That was really cheesy," she says reaching up and softly kissing me. "Do we have to go to the garage?"

"Yes we have to go to the garage," I say mimicking her so she elbows me in the side. "Ouch. Hey, no need to get violent."

"Violent? Who me? I just wanted to stay here and relax with you," she says giving me these big puppy dog eyes.

"Oh baby, don't do that," I say. I know if she keeps giving me those eyes I'll do anything she says. I also have a feeling that if she knows that, she'll do it more often.

"Do what," she asks smiling.

"You know what," I say trying not to look her in the eyes.

"No please enlighten me," she says leaning towards me.

"That eye thing," I softly say leaning towards her. She laughs, and just as we are about to kiss my phone rings. "Damn it," I mutter leaning my forehead against hers while she laughs. I lean back and reach over to the coffee table and pick up my phone.

"I told you two to head over to the garage," Gemma says.

"How do you know we aren't leaving now," I ask her. Honestly how does she do it? "We could be walking out the door this very second. You could be the reason we are being delayed. So tell me Gemma how do you know we haven't left yet?"

"Because it's you I'm dealing with," she laughs. "Get your asses moving," she says as her parting words.

I hang up and look over at Nat, "Alright Kid the Queen says we have to get a move on it," I say and start to stand up.

"Ok, fine," she groans standing up.

She follows me into the bedroom and I sit on the bed to put my shoes back on. "Do you have some other shoes, we're gonna take my bike," I ask as I see Nat slipping her flip flops back on.

"Yep," she says walking over to her bag that is next to me on the floor. She kneels down and begins to look through the bag pulling out a pair of socks and a pair of black tennis shoes. She sits on the floor and pulls her socks on. After she finishes she looks up at me, "So Creepy you about ready to go?"

I laugh and stand up holding my hand out for her. "Ya Kid I'm ready." I say pulling her up. She grabs her purse and we head out to the living room. I pick up my phone up off of the coffee table, and we walk out of the house only pausing to lock my front door. We walk over to my garage and I open the door to get my bike out. When the door opens I walk over to my bike, start it and pull it out of the garage. I turn it off leaving it in the drive way and walk back into the garage, pick up my helmet from the shelf on the wall, close the garage door and walk back to my bike. I hand Nat my helmet and get on my bike waiting for her. She puts my helmet on and gets on behind me.

As I start my bike up I feel her arms wrap around my waist and her head rest against my back. This has to be the best part of her riding with me. I take off towards the garage; I love it as everyone stares as I drive through town. I get to show off my girl because heaven knows I don't let just anyone ride with me. In fact I don't really let anyone, so I really am making a major statement. I pull into the parking lot of the garage and park my bike in line next to the others. After I turn the engine off Nat lets go of my waist and gets off from behind me. I watch as she pulls my helmet off and start to laugh. "What," she asks.

"You have slight helmet hair," I say getting off the bike and smoothing her hair out for her. "There," I say kissing her cheek. I take her hand and start walking towards the office where I see Gemma and Clay standing. As Nat and I get closer to Gemma and Clay the worst possible thing that could happen happened. A group of crow eaters blocked our path.

_Natalie's Point Of View_

Tig and I were just about to walk up to Gemma and Clay when we were intercepted by a group of women. I don't want to be rude, but they look like they belong on a corner somewhere. And who in the world taught a couple of these women how to do their makeup? Some of them remind me of Heath Ledger in Batman. Just as I was about to ask Tig what was going on one of the girls speaks, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a blonde wearing a really low cut top, short skirt, fishnets, and high heels says.

"Back off Chloe," Tig growls, "all of you girls better back off."

"Oh come on Tig, we have fun together," Chloe says walking up and standing in front of Tig, putting her hand on his chest. "Lose the little girl and come and have some fun with a real woman," she says leaning into him. This is when I lose it.

I walk up next to Tig who is about to say something. I grab the girls arm and pull her away from Tig. As she is about to start in on me I let go of her arm and I cut off her rant, "You need to back the fuck up," I say. "Look I don't know you and I don't know about your history with Tig, but I'm only going to say this once, stay away from him. We are together and if I see you or any of you other skanks hanging on him there will be hell to pay."

"Look here little girl," Chloe says getting in my face, "don't make threats you can't make good on. Besides why would Tig want you when he could have any of us?"

"Maybe because with me he knows he won't catch some sort of STD," I say shrugging my shoulders. "I don't really care, but he chose me, so back the fuck up." Chloe smirks at me and the next thing I know her palm made friends with my cheek. After she slaps me I slowly look at her and say, "Oh bitch it's on." I pull my fist back and punch her in the nose. She falls to the ground and looks up at me. "My dad taught me how to box," I calmly say. "Did I make my point or do you want to continue?" I ask.

She just shakes her head no at me as she wipes the blood off of her face. I smirk at her and walk over to Gemma. As I pass the other girls one with pretty red hair pats my arm and says, "That's the way to do it. No one's gonna want to fuck with you now," she says winking at me. I smile at her and walk over to Gemma, not looking back at Tig. I'm kind of scared that he's mad at me for punching the girl and basically claiming him.

"Way to go Rocky," Clay says when I'm close enough.

"You did good sweetheart," Gemma says hugging me. "Gotta put those bitches back in their place."

"Is Tig behind me," I whisper in her ear.

"Yes, why," she asks leaning away from me but keeping her hands on my arms.

"Does he look mad," I ask her.

She looks over at Tig then back at me smiling. "Nah sweetheart, actually he is grinning like a fool."

Slowly I turn around and see that Gemma was right. Tig is standing next to a laughing Clay with a huge grin on his face. "Damn babe that was totally hot," is the first thing he says to me.

"You're not mad?" I ask timidly.

He walks over to me, leans down and gives me the best kiss to date. As he stands back up he says, "How can I get mad when a hot little number like you probably broke some bitches' nose for a guy like," before I could ask him what he meant he starts talking again. "I didn't think they would be dumb enough to pull this shit this early, especially with me standing right there."

"It's better that it's done and out of the way," Clay says. "Alright my queen, brother, and new heavy weight champ, let's head inside." Clay says walking over to the clubhouse with his arm around Gemma's shoulders.

Tig wraps his arm around my waist and we follow Clay and Gemma, "Ya lets go Rocky," Tig says and I laugh.

It's my first time in the clubhouse and it kind of shocked me. I don't know what I was expecting, but it's nice. It fits their personalities. There's a bar, a pool table, some scattered tables and chairs, a couple couches, and a wall filled with mug shots. Tig led me over to Gemma who is sitting at the bar before walking into another room. "That is where they hold Church," she says as Kip hands me a bottle of water. "Women aren't allowed."

"Aww, kind of like the little Rascals," I say making her laugh. "Thank you by the way," I say as Kip starts to walk away. He smiles at me and nods his head.

"So you're staying with Tig?" Gemma asks.

"Yes, but he is being kind of vague as to why."

"He'll probably tell you tonight. He just wants to make sure that nothing happens to you," Gemma says taking a sip of her water.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a little while. But what Tig said outside is still kind of getting to me. "Gemma what did Tig mean when he said a guy like him," I ask her quietly.

She is quiet for a moment and I can see her trying to decide what to say. "He has an important job with the club, and that job has taken its toll on him. He's worried that he isn't good for you, and that you'll wise up to that."

"What do you mean not good enough for me," I asked shocked. "I haven't been so happy in a long time. He brings out the best in me."

"And lately you have brought the best out in him," she says smiling at me. "He just needs a little time to get his head out of his ass, and just go with the flow."

"He better," I mumble and she laughs.

_Tig's Point of View_

Clay and I sit down at the table the other guys aren't here yet. "You got some girl," Clay laughs.

"That I do," I smile. I really am lucky, but how long is this luck going to last. "So Kozik and some of the guys are coming?"

"Ya I called them up for some extra help," Clay says lighting a cigar. "How'd you know," he asks.

"Nat and I ran into them on our way here. I'm kinda surprised they aren't here yet," I say.

"Nah they had to make a quick stop, they'll be here in a couple hours," Clay says.

"I don't want him near Natalie," I tell Clay seriously.

"Then you got to make it clear that she is off limits now don't you," Clay laughs.


	21. Kiss It Better

_Natalie's Point of View_

Gemma and I sit at the bar sipping our water and laughing. She was telling me a story about Jax when he was younger. As we were laughing Jax, Chibs, Happy, Juice, and Bobby walked in. Jax walks over to Gemma and leans down and kisses her cheek as the other guys go and sit at the table closest to the bar. "Hey baby," she says.

"I just heard an interesting story," Jax says turning to me with a smirk. "Apparently some crazy bitch beat the hell out of Chloe and threatened to kill her for even looking at her man."

"Jax, Jax, Jax," I sigh and shake my head. "You can't believe everything you hear. First of all I would never be so violent. Second of all I would never threaten to kill anyone; it's against my peaceful nature. Third of all does that description even fit me?" I question.

He starts to laugh and shakes his head, "I guess not. So what really happened?"

"I punched the bitch and told her to stay the fuck away from my man," I say like it was nothing and turn back to Gemma. Jax and the guys start to laugh.

"What's going on out here?" Clay asks walking into the room followed by Tig.

"Nothing," Jax laughs. "I was just getting an update on some recent events."

Tig walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. I lean my head back and turn slightly so I could kiss him. "So are you ok to hang around here for a while?" he asks me softly. I just nod my head and he smiles at me. The door opens and the guys we saw earlier when we were getting ice cream walked in.

"Clay," Kozik says walking up to Clay and giving him a hug before moving over towards Happy. I noticed that as the guys walked in Tig stepped closer to me and the arm around my waist tightened. "Hey there Tigger glad to see you made it home alright."

"Ya because I know how much my safety means to you," Tig says sarcastically. He let go of me a turned towards Kozik. I slowly turned and watched the two only to see Kozik leering at me.

"Oh hi there sweetheart," he says smirking at me. He then looks back at Tig, "So you keep your bitches on a tight leash now, huh Tig."

Before anyone could react Tig Punched Kozik. Kozik stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth; he looked down at his hand and softly laughed. Then he punched Tig, as they we fighting I stood up from the stool I was sitting on. The other guys were laughing and encouraging both men to continue fighting. Kozik tackled Tig and they both fell backwards, I didn't get out of the way fast enough and they fell into me causing me to fall backwards. As I fell my head hit the stool I had been sitting on before the fight. I felt a searing pain at the back of my head, I wonder how many times a person can get a concussion in a matter of a week.

"Natalie," I hear Gemma yell. All of a sudden the room got quiet and I heard some of the guys mutter, "shit" and "damn".

"Get the fuck off of me," I hear Tig shout. I couldn't exactly move with the two of them pinning me down. When the weight on me lifted I look up and see Tig standing over me. "Kid, you alright?" Tig asks and I can hear the worry in his voice.

"I'm fine Creepy," I smile at him. "My head hurts like a bitch though."

_Tig's Point Of View_

Koz made me so mad, but I shouldn't have let Nat get hurt. What the hell is wrong with me? "Here baby let me help you up," I say and slowly help her sit up. I watch as she slowly lifts a hand to her head and looks at everyone who is staring at her.

"I'm fine stop staring at me its rude," she says making everyone laugh nervously. I help her stand up and sit on the stool she hit her head on. I stand in front of her and gently run my hands through her hair looking for the lump. "Creepy," she says softly making stop and look into her eyes. "I'll be fine. I just need somewhere quiet and some aspirin, then I'll be right as rain."

"Take her to your room Tig," Gemma says standing next to Nat and me looking worried.

"Go take care of your girl, then we'll have the meeting," Clay says walking up and standing next to Gemma. I nod to them and take Natalie's hand leading her towards the dorm rooms.

"Hey Nat," I hear as we are walking through the crowd. Both Natalie and I turn to Jax, "Guess Karma's a bitch aint it?" he laughs. Natalie just laughs and flips him off following me to my room.

I dig the keys out of my pocket and unlock my door. Slowly I open it and lead Nat inside. It's kind of plain, I have a bed, chair, dresser, and a small refrigerator and microwave. After she followed me in I closed the door and led her to the bed. "Have a seat," I say not able to meet her eyes. I promised I wouldn't hurt her and I did. As I go to turn to look for some aspirin I feel her grab my hand.

"I promise I'm fine," she says softly standing in front of me. "Alex you need to stop. This wasn't your fault. I should have moved out of the way, but I got distracted," she says which makes me look at her. Her eyes are averted, she is blushing like crazy, and she is biting her bottom lip which is driving me insane.

"Distracted," I ask tilting her chin up. She stares me in the eyes and nods.

"You see this really hot guy was fighting, and it was difficult to pay attention to anything other than him," she says softly reaching up to kiss me. As we are kissing I gently slip my tongue in her mouth deepening the kiss. As the kiss intensifies she wraps her arms around my neck holding me closer to her. I run my hand through her hair and I hear her hiss in pain.

_Natalie's Point Of View_

Tig was kissing me senseless but I couldn't help the hiss of pain when he ran his hand through my hair. He slowly gentles the kiss and pulls away from me. "Sorry Kid," he says looking down at me.

"Don't be," I say smiling up at him. "How about I go get a wash cloth to clean you up, and you find some aspirin, because it looks like we both could use some."

"Alright, the bathroom is through that door," he says pointing to the door across the room. I kiss him one more time before walking to the door and opening it. I walk into the bathroom which is surprisingly immaculate. I grab the wash cloth on the side of the tub and walk over to the sink. I turn the sink on and get the wash cloth soaking wet. As I walk out of the bathroom I see Tig sitting on the bed pulling out a bottle of what looks like pills from a lock box. "Here," I say walking up to him. As I walk closer to him I see that the lock box has bottles and baggies of pills in it. I don't say anything I just sit next to him and start to clean a cut on the side of his face.

"I know this looks bad," he starts but I quickly cover his mouth.

"Tig I don't care," I honestly say. "You're a grown man and you can do whatever the hell you want. As long as you have actual aspirin for me, you can take whatever. I'm your girl not your mother."

"Ok," he says slightly muffled because I hadn't moved my hand yet. He hands me two white pills that say aspirin and hands me a bottle of water that he must have grabbed from his small refrigerator, because it is cold.

"Thank you," I say taking them. I hand him back the water and continue wiping the cut on his face where that ass's ring got him. Tig watches me the entire time only taking his eyes off my long enough to take his pain killers. He closes and locks the lock box and sits still as I finish. As I get up to take the wash cloth to the bathroom I hear him stand up and put it back in its hiding place. I walk over to the sink and turn the water on and wash the washcloth out. After I am finished I turn the water off and hand the washcloth on the side of the sink. I walk back into Tig's room and see him sitting against the headboard of his bed. I walk over to the end of the bed and crawl up to him laying my head on his chest. He wraps his arms around me and softly sighs.

"You know," he says and I look up at his face, "I still hurt."

"I'm sorry," I say smiling up at him. "How can I make it better?"

"I think," he says in a soft voice, "you should kiss it better."

"Oh really," I say moving so I am leaning over him and he is laying down looking up at me.

"Really," he says and I can see his eyes get darker, and his voice huskier.

"You'll have to show me where it hurts so I don't miss anything," I softly say next to his ear causing him to shiver.

"Here," he says pointing next to his eye. I lean down and kiss the spot he points to. "Here," he softly says pointing to the cut on his cheek; I softly kiss next to it. "Here," he says pointing to his still healing spilt lip. Next were his hands, I made sure to kiss each of his bruised and battered knuckles. Then he pointed to a scratch that was along his neck.

"Where else do you need me to kiss it better," I whisper in his ear. As her turns his head to answer me there was a loud knock at the door. Damn do these people have bad timing.


	22. I Am A Complete  Dork

_Tig's Point Of View_

I can not fucking believe this, why the hell do we always get interrupted. I hear Nat sigh and lean her forehead against mine. "Damn," she mutters softly and moves from above me. As I sit up there is another loud knock on the door.

"Stop that fucking knocking, I'll be out in a damn minute" I yell at the door swinging my legs off the side of the bed. I hear Nat laugh and wrap her arms around me from behind. She rests her head on my shoulder and slightly leans over to talk to me.

"You know I think they do it on purpose," she laughs and kisses my neck.

I turn my head toward her, "Oh I know they do," I laugh and kiss her. "Come on we better hurry up before they come and try to knock the door off its hinges." I stand up and turn around so I am facing Nat. I hold my hand out and help her stand up. I lean down and kiss her before taking her hand and leading her out of my room. I open the door and she follows me out, I turn back around to close and lock my door. We walk back down the hall and I see that the room is empty except for the prospect and Gemma. Gemma just nods to the door letting me know that they are starting the meeting. Nat squeezes my hand before letting it go and walking over to Gemma. I smirk as I watch her walk away. Got love a girl who doesn't need to be told what to do. I toss my phone in the box on the pool table and walk into the room closing the door behind me.

_Natalie's Point Of View_

I walked over to Gemma and sat next to her ironically on the same stool as earlier. "How's your head baby girl," Gemma asks lightly running her hand over my head.

"It's alright, Tig gave me some aspirin so I should be fine," I say.

"So what was taking the two of you so long in there?" Gemma asks smirking.

"Nothing," I say blushing.

"Baby girl you say one thing but your face says another," she laughs and shakes her head.

"But really nothing happened," I say honestly.

"Did you want something to happen?" Gemma asks fully turning towards me.

"I don't know," I say blushing and starring down at the floor.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Gemma asks tilting my head back up.

"I mean I've never felt like this before. Hell I've never done anything before," I blurt out turning redder. Just then we hear a crashing noise so we look over and see that Kip had dropped the broom he was using. He was looking up at us like he was caught doing something wrong. This can only mean that he was eaves dropping.

"Hey prospect if they come out while we're gone tell Tig that I took her with me to go watch Abel," Gemma says standing up. "Come on we'll go talk somewhere without any ears," she whispers to me. "Oh and prospect, you breathe a word about what you just heard you'll wish you were never born. Got it?"

"Sure thing Gemma," Kip quickly says. "I didn't hear anything."

Gemma just nods her head and leads me outside. We walk to her car and she unlocks it. We both get in and put on our seat belts. Neither one of us say anything until she pulls out onto the street. "So you've never done anything before," Gemma asks.

"Nope," I say softly.

"Ok so you're a virgin no need to make such a production," Gemma says smirking at me. "So you said before you want something to happen with Tig?" Gemma asks turning down onto a street.

"I don't know," I say and put my head in my hands. "On one hand whenever I'm alone with Tig I want something more to happen."

"But," Gemma says glancing over at me.

"But I'm scared," I say softly.

"What are you scared of sweetheart?" Gemma asks pulling into a driveway.

"I'm scared that he is going to realize my age and realize he wants someone older, I'm scared that he is going to laugh at my inexperience, I'm scared that he is going to leave me when he finds out," I start to ramble.

"Sweetheart look at me," Gemma says so I turn to look at her. "Look Tig isn't going to do any of those things. If he does than he doesn't deserve you. I think you should just talk with him and be honest."

"How do I go about that? Tonight when we go back to his place, get in bed, I can't exactly say "Night Tig, oh and by the way I'm a virgin," I say making Gemma laugh.

"No I suppose not," she laughs. "Tell him when you are ready to tell him, that's all I can say. You have to be honest with him if you want this to work. But just don't wait to tell him when you're half naked and going at it. That would make the conversation all the more awkward," Gemma says turning and opening her door.

I laughed and got out of the car. I followed Gemma to the front door and stopped her before she opened it. "Thanks Gemma, I don't know who else I could have talked to about this."

"Don't worry baby girl, I never had a daughter so I need to share my wisdom with someone," she smiles and gives me a quick hug. She then opens the door to the house and walks in the house, "Hello," she calls out.

"In here," we hear and walk down a hallway. We walk into a blue room that looks like a nursery and see Tara sitting in a rocking chair holding Abel. "What's going on," she asks looking at both Gemma and I.

"I needed to see my grandson," Gemma says walking over to Tara and picking up Abel. "Hey there handsome," she coos.

"Hi," I say to Tara.

"Hi," she says softly looking from me back to Gemma. "Well I have to get going my shift starts in thirty minutes." She says standing up. It was then that I noticed she was wearing green hospital scrubs.

"Ok, don't let us keep you," Gemma says not even looking at Tara.

"Ok then bye," Tara says walking towards the door of Abel's room.

"Bye," I say as she walks past me. She just waves and walks away. A few minutes later I hear the door close, closely followed by a car starting up. I looked over at Gemma and softly laughed.

Three hours later Gemma and I were sitting on Jax's couch watching the news when we heard the sound of motorcycles approaching. A couple minutes later Jax, Clay, and Tig walk inside.

"Hey," Jax says leaning down to kiss Gemma's cheek. "Is the kid asleep?"

"Yes, for about twenty minutes now." she says and Jax walks down the hall.

I look over at Tig and stand up. I walk over to him and he wraps his arms around me leaning down to kiss my cheek. "You feel like going to get something to eat?"

"Yes, I'm actually starving," I laugh as my stomach growls at the thought of food.

"Ok lets go," he says and nods to Clay.

I walk over and hug Gemma, "Night," I say.

"Night sweetheart," she says hugging me back. "And remember what I told you," she whispers before letting me go.

I smile at her and walk past Clay, "Night Clay."

"Whatever," he mumbles and I laugh. I walk over to Tig and follow him outside to his bike.

"Here you go Kid," he says handing me his helmet. He gets on his bike as I put the helmet on. After I am finished I get on behind him. He starts the bike and pulls out of the driveway. He drives to a restaurant in what seems to be the middle of town. He turns off the bikes engine and I get off from behind him. As I am taking off the helmet and smoothing my hair down Tig is getting off of his bike. He takes the helmet and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Come on," he says leading me into the restaurant.

"Good evening is it just the two of you?" an older woman asks.

"Yes," Tig says.

"Alright right this way," she says picking up two menus and leading us to a booth next to a window. I slid in on one side and Tig sat on the other he puts his helmet on the seat next to him. She places the menus down in front of us, "Is there anything I can get you both to drink?"

"Iced tea pleased," I say smiling at her.

"Coke please," Tig says.

"What no beer and not going to light up a cigarette?" I ask Tig after she had walked away.

"Nah, I only do that when I'm trying to get the attention of a hot waitress." He says smirking.

"Oh and that really works?" I laugh.

"Got your attention didn't it?" he smirks.

"What makes you think that is what got my attention," I ask laughing.

Before he answers the waitress is back with our drinks. "Here you are dears," she says placing our glasses down in front of us. "Have you decided on what you want?"

I glance down at the menu to see what looks the most appealing. "I'll have the cheese burger and fries," I hear Tig say.

"You know what I'll have the same," I say smiling at her.

"Alright," she says writing down our order, then walking away.

I look back at Tig and see him starring out the window with a faraway look. "Something wrong," I ask picking up his hand that he had put on the table.

"Huh?" he asked looking back at me then our hands.

"You looked like you were somewhere else for a minute," I say softly. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"Not much," he sighs and pulls his hand back from mine. I just sigh and nod my head and sit back.

_Tig's Point Of View_

As the waitress walked away I look outside and see a group of teenagers that appear to be Nat's age piling out of a car. That should be her, hanging out with a bunch of kids her age not me. Hell I don't even know how to tell her that I have kids. I don't even know if she likes kids. What the hell does she want with a guy like me? "Something wrong," I hear her say and feel her pick up my hand.

"Huh," I say looking at her then our hands. It's kind of perfect how well they fit together. I just don't think I'm good enough for her.

"You looked like you were somewhere else for a minute," I hear her say softly. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

I can't tell her what I'm really thinking. "Nothing much," I say and pull my hand back. I see the group of kids walk in and pass our table. I hear her sigh so I turn and look to see her sit back against the booth. She looks upset, damn it, I didn't mean to upset her. "Hey," I say and she looks up at me. I smile at her, "I'm lonely come sit with me," I say seeing her smile. She slowly stands up and walks up to my side, I move my helmet and she slides into the booth next to me. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and she leans against me.

_Nat's Point Of View_

After I sit next to Tig I start to feel a little better. I know he doesn't want to tell me what really is wrong so I won't push him. I just want to enjoy his company. Twenty minutes later our food is being set down in front of us and we are enjoying our meal. We have been making small talk and laughing having a really great time. The only thing I would change is the noisy group of teenagers that came in earlier. They are so loud and ill mannered. I mean who yells and runs around a restaurant? As we are waiting for the waitress to come with our check the group of annoying teenagers leave. I lean my head against Tig's shoulder and sigh. "Thank goodness."

"What," he laughs and wraps his arm around me again.

"They were so loud," I say looking disgusted. "I mean how can people knowingly go out in public and act like that?" He just shakes his head and laughs as the waitress walks up to the table with the check.

Tig paid and is currently driving us back to his house. When we pull up we see three bikes in Tig's driveway. He opens the garage and pulls in. After he turns the engine off I get off and take the helmet off placing if back in the spot I saw him take it from earlier that day. I turn back to him and he takes my hand leading me from the garage. "I take it you know who is here," I say as we walk up to the front door.

"Ya, there is only two other people that have a key to my house," he says and opens the front door. As soon as we walk in I get hit with an overwhelming smell of smoke, and noise coming from Tig's T.V. It sounds as if whoever is here is watching a boxing match. "Hey" I hear Tig call out walking in to the living room with me following behind him.

"Hey man didn't think you would mind," I hear a raspy voice say. I look around Tig and see Happy and two of the other guys I had met earlier that are from the Tacoma Charter.

"Hi," I say nervously.

"You guys remember Nat," Tig says to the other two men. They just nod their heads in confirmation. "This is Don and Pug."

"Hey," they say.

"Hi," I say smiling at them. I look over and see Happy smirking as he looks at Tig holding my hand.

I look over at Tig, "I'm gonna go to your room." I say softly. He nods at me. I smile at the others and then head down the hallway to Tig's room. I walk inside and close the door behind me. I take my shoes off and sit on the bed. I yawn and look over at the clock seeing it is only 10:00 pm. I can't believe that I am so tired, but it has been a busy day. I'm just going to rest my eyes for a bit so I lay down and rest my head on his pillow.

"Hmm," I sigh. I can feel someone kissing my neck, I must have fallen asleep. I slowly open my eyes and see the top of Tig's head as he continues to kiss his way down my neck. "That tickles," I say softly making him look up. He smiles up at me and continues. I feel one of his hands slide up my shirt rubbing my side.

"You fell asleep," he says before kissing my lips hungrily. I feel his tongue asking for entrance that I happily give. As the need for air becomes too much we pull apart and Tig looks down at me. I keep eye contact with him as I feel the hand that is under my shirt raise higher. I have trouble breathing as he gets closer to my breast. "Tig," I moan. He leans down and kisses me softly as his hand covers my breast. I moan into his mouth and arch further into his hand. He gently begins to massage my breast and I reach up and gently run my hands through his hair. He gentles the kiss before releasing my lips so we can both breathe. He leans his forehead against mine, "Is this alright," he asks slightly out of breath.

"Mmhm," I moan. This feeling is amazing, it's like my whole body is responding to his every touch. He begins kissing back down my neck. The hand that is on my breast moves down to my stomach, and he moves his hand that was holding the back of my head down to the bottom of my shirt. He slowly begins to lift my shirt up, and before I realize it my shirt is gone and Tig is starring down at me with dark hungry eyes. All of a sudden I can think and I realize that I never had that talk with him yet. "Tig," I say hurriedly.

"Ya baby," he says.

"I need to tell you," I start to say blushing like crazy. "Tig I've never," I start, "I'm."

"Baby, I know," he says smiling down at me.

"You do?" I ask. What does he know? Then I remember, Oh no Kip must have told him what he heard; I am going to fucking kill him. "How do you know?"

"Baby, no offense but this morning when you tried to drown me with that glass of water was a dead give away," he laughs. "And all I did was watch you run around in a towel."

I just blush and cover my face with my hands. I am a complete dork, "Can I have my shirt back please." I mutter from behind my hands.

"No sorry I kind of tossed it somewhere," he laughs and lies down next to me pulling me in his arms. I groan and move my hands from my face to lie my head down on his chest. "I kind of got carried away," he says softly. "I promise we will go at your pace, I don't want to rush you." I look up and see him smirking down at me. "You know you're really cute when you blush like this," he says making me laugh. I really think he is perfect for me.


	23. I'll Pay You Later

**_Natalie's Point of View_ **

I'm in that hazy place where I'm starting to wake up, but still slightly sleeping. Last night was great, Tig just held me as I fell asleep. He never pushed to go any further than he had. Right now I'm snuggled up to him with the covers over my head.

"Tig wake the fuck up Clay is on the phone," I hear a raspy voice say disturbing my sleep. The warm lump I'm curled into starts to move causing me to fully wake up. "Tig," the voice says louder.

"I'm up man, just shut the fuck up," Tig says groggily. "Give me the damn phone." Tig starts to move around again and gently moves from under me. "Ya," I hear him say. "We'll be there in an hour. …. Sure….. See you then."

"So," the raspy voice says again.

"We better have our asses over there within the hour," Tig says sarcastically. "Go tell the others to get up and head over to TM."

"I'm not your bitch man," the raspy voice says.

"Oh come on, you know I'll pay you later," Tig says right before I hear the bedroom door close.

"Hmm sounds like I have some competition," I say pulling the covers down.

"Nope, no competition here," Tig says his eyes roaming down my body. I look down and realize that I never did put on any pajamas last night. I am still in my pants and am missing my shirt. Immediately I start to blush. "Tig," I say softly.

"I know, but damn," he says and leans over giving me a quick kiss. "We have to be at TM in an hour so you need to get dressed."

"I was figuring I could just go like this," I say looking at him seriously.

"Well I have no problem looking at you like this all day, but I doubt you want everyone else to," he says leaning over me.

"Mmm I suppose your right," I say and smile up at him.

"You have thirty minutes," he says before kissing me, "to get ready to leave."

"Alright," I say breathlessly looking up at him. He smirks and kisses me one more time before letting me up. I grab my shirt from last night off of the floor and put it on. I grab my bag and head to the bedroom door.

"Where are you going," he asks.

"To take a shower and change," I laugh and walk out of the room. I walk to the bathroom and knock to make sure that no one is inside. When I don't get an answer I open the door and walk in. I open my bag and get out what I need for my shower and the clothes I am going to wear. As I turn the shower on I hear a loud bang followed by laughter. What a way to start a morning.

I took a quick shower and got dressed. I decided on dark blue jeans and a t-shirt that has Elmo on it saying "I'm Not Short, I'm Fun Size". I dried my hair and left it down, I brushed my teeth then put on some mascara and lip gloss before walking out of the bathroom. I walked down the hall and opened the bedroom door. As I walked in Tig was pulling on a clean shirt, he turned and smirked at me as I ogled him. "Like something you see," he asks.

"Nope," I sigh and laugh as he growls at me. I put my bag down and sit on the bed to put on my black tennis shoes. I feel the bed move and look behind me and see Tig sitting down and putting his boots on. "So how much time before we head out?"

Tig looks down at his watch, "Five minutes."

"Wow what are we going to do with a whole five minutes?" I question him.

Before I realize it I'm lying down on the bed with Tig looking down at me. "Baby I could do a whole lot in five minutes," he says wiggling his eyebrows at me, making me laugh.

"Tig lets go," I hear the raspy voice from this morning say from behind the door.

"Fuck," he mutters looking down at me.

"Wow not even five minutes," I laugh.

"Let's go before Hap kills us," he says pulling me up. I laugh lightly but can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen today. I hope that I am wrong.

**_Ava's Point Of View_ **

Gus and I are in the car on our way to Teller Morrow. I'm sitting in the passenger seat listening to the soft rock on the radio and thinking back on the last couple days. I can't believe the mess we are all in. I can't believe my part in what is about to happen. Things are going to become unbearable.

" _What do you want now," I say sitting down in the chapel at the hospital._

" _Oh come on Ava is that any way to talk to someone who has been helping you," agent June Stahl says sitting down next to me._

" _You mean black mailing me," I say glaring at her._

" _Now black mailing is so harsh," she sighs, "I like to call it friendly persuasion."_

" _Call it whatever you will, I'm done," I say starting to get up._

" _I wouldn't be so hasty," she says grabbing my arm causing me to sit back down. "Now you have been providing valuable information on a certain motorcycle club. In exchange you have been kept out of jail and Natalie doesn't know your little secret. That was the deal was it not?"_

" _It was," I say softly looking down._

" _Good, now are we going to keep our deal, or am I going to arrest you and tell Natalie what really happened that night? In turn your precious friends will find out you have been ratting on them."_

" _You win," I whisper after a moment._

" _Sorry didn't quite catch that," she says looking smug._

" _I said you win," I raise my voice. "What do you want now?"_

" _Well for starters I want to know what you know about a certain warehouse that was blown up. I need evidence and witnesses. Anything you know I want." She says sitting back._

_I look down at my hands. "These guys took Nat," I start and before I realize it I tell her everything that happened. How the guys took Nat, and how SAMCROW got her back .I even added in how they burned down the garage. I told her about the trouble Clay talked to Gus about. About the guns and stuff we have been keeping for the club. I told her everything I knew._

" _Anything else," she asks writing something down._

" _No that's all I know' I tell her looking down at my hands._

" _This is great," June says laughing. "And with Nat being with Trager, that will offer more information. She still open with you?" she questions me._

" _Yes," I say tersely. "For the most part, she is."_

" _Well I want her to be the whole part," she says looking at me. "I don't care what you have to do, I want every bit of information she has. So fix whatever it is that is causing her to clam up."_

" _Look I don't want her anywhere near him or that club," I growl._

' _I don't care what you want," she says glaring at me. "You didn't seem to care about her or anyone else's well being that night were you?"_

" _If she stays with him she'll end up a whore, in jail, or dead," I say raising my voice. How can a woman be willing to throw away a young girls life? Not to mention she uses that night against me every chance she gets._

" _I don't care if she does all three in that specific order," she says laughing slightly. "I'm taking these men down and you are going to help me willingly or not."_

"Ava honey, we're almost there," Gus says breaking me from my thoughts.

"You think she is alright?" I ask him knowing he already knows who I am asking about.

"I'm sure she is fine," he says picking up my hand from the arm rest.

I look down at our hands and smile sadly. I haven't told him, told anyone what happened. I haven't even told him about the deal I made with June. I know he would hate me if he ever found out. I definitely know Nat will. I close my eyes and put my head back against the headrest. I know they are all going to find out eventually. I also know that when they do I'm dead. I made my decisions and now this is my consequence.


	24. We Wait

_Natalie's Point of View_

"So what do we do now?" I ask Gemma as we sit at the bar. Earlier when we arrived, the men immediately went to church. Gemma enlisted mine and a few of the other women's help in unloading her car and putting everything away.

"We wait baby girl," Gemma sighs as she takes a draw off of her cigarette. "We're still waiting on Gus and Ava, they should be here soon."

"I wonder what is taking them so long," Luanne who I had met earlier says coming to sit next to me.

"I don't know," Gemma says exhaling smoke. "They were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago."

As she says this I think back to Ava's behavior the last couple days. "Gemma is Ava alright," I blurt out of nowhere. I mean if anyone knows why Ava has been acting strange lately it would be Gemma right? It was just so strange that she kind of broke down on me the other day.

She looks at me strangely for a moment, "From what I know, why?"

"It's just," I begin, "do you remember the other day when we met up with you at the hospital?"

"Ya, why?" she asks again.

"Well when we first got to the hospital she said that she would meet up with me at Mr. Gregory's room because there was a friend she wanted to go see, I was there for almost two hours and she never showed up," I pause and see that Gemma has a strange look on her face. "I just figured that they both got caught up you know."

"Ava does like to talk," Luanne says laughing lightly. Gemma just nodded her head silently agreeing but still concentrating on me.

"Well when she took me home she was acting weird." I say looking away from them for a moment. "She, she said she was restless which is kind of hard to believe, with her being Ava and all. Then she started to tear up like whatever was on her mind was troubling her. Gemma I think she might be sick," I say starting to tear up. It all kinds of adds up, the weird behavior, her disappearing at the hospital. Oh my God what if she was having tests done and used Mr. Gregory as an excuse. It was kind of random her just wanting to go visit him.

"Oh sweetheart," Gemma says wrapping her arms around me. "I'm sure she is fine."

"Ya Ava is tough, I'm sure she was just having a bad day," Luanne says trying to make me feel better.

"I hope your right," I sniffle, "I just have this really bad feeling."

"Oh sweetheart, she'll be fine" Gemma says rubbing my arm. "Now dry your pretty little eyes and stop crying before they get here." Just as she says this the door opens and in walks Tara carrying Abel. Immediately Gemma's mood changes, I know she has been restless waiting for Abel. "Why the hell weren't you here earlier doc," Gemma growls? She slowly stands up and advances on the woman. "Is my grandson's safety not important to you at all?'

"I had to pack his bag and stop to get a few things," Tara says sounding exhausted. She places Abel's carrier on the table next to her.

"You could have dropped him off here first you careless bit…"

"Gemma," I say shocked causing her to glare over at me. "Sorry but little ears," I say quickly to defend myself, nodding at Abel and the other children in the room.

"Believe me they have probably heard much worse," Gemma says and turns back to glare at Tara. I just sigh and shake my head. As the exchange is going on I see Kip walk over to the door the guys are behind and stick his head in. I wonder what's going on.

_Tig's Point of View_

"Gus just called, him and Ava will be here in twenty, they got a flat," Kip says sticking his head in the door.

"Alright," Clay says and blows out a stream of smoke from his cigar. "Hey prospect," he calls out as the door starts to close.

"Ya Clay," Kip says sticking his head back into the room.

"Get your ass in here, we may need you and I don't want to have to waist the time filling your sorry ass in on the finer details." Kip eagerly nods and walks fully into the room closing the door behind him.

"Aww isn't he just adorable," I say mockingly "He gets to join the big boys," I say causing the rest of the guys to laugh and Half-Sack to lightly blush.

"When Gus gets here I want Kozik and Happy to check the equipment, make sure everything is in working order," Clay says staring out over the room. "This is going to be fast and retribution swift. These fuckers aren't going to know what hit them."

"There are two main areas that the Mayans inhabit. If we hit them both at the same time, these assholes will take months to recover," I say looking at everyone.

"We're going to break into groups of two. Jax, Opie, Chibs, Pug, Hank, Scott, and Kip you are going to hit their bar. Tig, Koz, Don, Bobby, Happy, Paul, and Farmer will come with me and hit the warehouse," Clay says looking at each of us as he names us. "Piney you, Gus, and Shrink will stay here and protect our family. We good," Clay asks looking at us as we nod at him. Earlier we had planned out how this shit is going to go down, now we're just waiting on Gus. After our confirmation he bangs the gavel and we all stand up and walk into the clubhouse.

_June's Point of View_

"Alright according to my source everything is going down today," I tell the group of men and women who have been assembled for my team. "This has to be flawless if we want to get these guys, got it?" I ask looking around the room.

"Agent Stahl I got that file that you wanted faxed over," an agent says walking over to me.

"Has anyone else seen this?" I ask softly quickly glancing around the room.

"No mam," he says before I dismiss him. This is great I have everything I need to take these asses down. I'm about to have my cake and eat it too.

_Gus's Point of View_

"Alright, I'm just about done," I huff and start to lower the jack holding up the car, while Ava stands next to me.

"Gus, I'm tired of this shit," Ava says softly kneeling down next to me. "What if we just drop this shit off, pick up Nat and get as far away from Charming as we can get."

I stop what I am doing and slowly look over at her. "Where is this all coming from?" I ask shocked.

"Gus this has been coming a long time," she laughs. "God and now Nat is involved, I never wanted this. Come on lets just take her and go."

"You can't mean that," I laugh slightly. She can't be serious, she's probably just anxious like always.

"I do mean it, Gus," she says frustrated. "I am sick of this shit and I am sick of having to put everything we have on the line."

"Where the hell is all of this coming from," I ask again.

"I don't know," she sighs. "Lately I've been thinking back on everything and don't like what I see," she says and turns to walk away.

"Ava," I softly say and walk up behind her placing my hands on her softly shaking shoulders. "What is going on babe, you have me so confused. I don't know how to help you or how to make this better."

"That's because you can't," I barely hear her whisper. I'm pretty sure I wasn't meant to hear it. "I'm just being silly," she says after a moment before turning to me. "Come on I'm sure they are all waiting for us."

_Natalie's Point Of View_

"Where's Abel? There he is," I coo playing pica-a-boo with the adorable baby. Gemma and Luanne are in the kitchen and I offered to watch Abel as Tara went to put hers and Abel's things in Jax's room. "Where's Abel?" I ask again hiding behind my hands, "There he is," I say making him laugh.

"You know you are probably going to cause the kid some abandonment issues," I hear from behind me. I turn around and see a smirking Jax.

"Since when has a simple game of pica-a-boo messed anyone up?" I ask laughing.

"I have no idea, but it could happen. I'm just saying if my kid ends up fucked up," he says leaning down and picking up a laughing Abel, "I am so blaming you."

I can't help but laugh as he walks away. "Aw but it's always the parents fault," I call out after him.

"What is always the parents fault," Tig asks walking behind me.

"Abandonment issues," I laugh turning to him. "So what's going on?" I ask looking around and seeing that all of the men are now sitting around the clubhouse interacting with each other.

"Just waiting for Gus and Ava," he says wrapping his arms around me.

"Where are they?" I ask looking up at him.

"Apparently they got a flat on the way here," he says looking over at someone who is calling his name. I am so tired of waiting for something I don't understand.


	25. Part one- One Piece

**_Present_ **

"Natalie you have to believe me I never meant for any of this to happen."

"But it did," I yell. "How could you do this to me?"

"Please I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

I stop and look down at the ground taking in a deep breath. I can't believe everything that has just happened. This morning I believed everything may just be alright and now everything has just turned to shit. "Because of you I have lost two of the people who I love most in this world. Because of you I am probably going to lose someone else. I don't want to see you; I don't want to hear from you ever again. I want you to lose my number, forget my address, and cease to exist in my mind."

"Natalie please you don't understand."

"No you don't understand, I will never forgive you for this," I say coldly

**_Past_ **

"Alright everyone, listen up," Clay yells grabbing the attention of everyone that has been packed inside of the club house. "You're all here because your family and we protect what is ours. While we are gone no one is to leave. If you need anything Piney," Piney raises his hand, "will assist you. Any other needs or questions can be referred to my queen. We just want you all to be safe so just stick to the rules. That's it, I love you all." Clay finishes and everyone claps and hollers.

"You doing ok Kid," Tig asks tightening his hold on me.

I turn around in his arms and stare up into his eyes. "I'm fine Creepy," I lie trying to hide my fear.

"You're lying," Tig says smirking at me.

"No I'm not" I say and suddenly find his chest more interesting than his eyes.

"Come on Kid talk to me," he says rubbing soothing circles on my back.

"Alright," I sigh mindful of anyone who could be listening. "I'm terrified that something is going to happen to one of you." Especially you I add in my mind.

"Why didn't you just say that," he asks looking like that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Because I wanted to be strong for you," I say softly.

"What," he says again looking confused.

"Never mind," I say as I hear Gus and Ava announce their arrival. I turn around and watch the two walk up to Clay and Gemma as Clay nods at Happy and Kozik who were by the pool table. The two then silently walk outside.

"Sorry we're late," Gus says shaking Clay's hand.

"It's about damn time," Clay says.

"Hey baby girl," Gus says taking me from Tig and into a giant bear hug.

"Hey Gus," I laugh. I look over at Ava noticing she wasn't right behind Gus like normal. She is standing off to the side not really starring at anyone. "Is she alright?"

"Ya baby girl she's just a little worried," he says sounding like he was trying to convince himself too.

After a few minutes of conversation with Gus because Ava had been staying far away from us all, Gemma walks over to me and Gus goes to talk to Clay. "Hey Tig they're just about ready," she says alerting me that Tig is going to be leaving and I have no idea what shape he will be in when he comes back.

I turn around and look at him and he smirks. He kisses my neck and walks over to Clay not saying a word to me. I look over at Gemma and she has this calm yet worried look in her eyes. "Gemma," I say softly noticing that all of the guys are starting to head outside.

"Come on baby, it's time to go do our part," she says and wraps her arm around my shoulders leading me outside with her and some of the other women. "The toughest part is going to be this," she says softly. "We have to look brave and we have to be strong for them. We can't let them see our fear. Remember that it is the way we send them off that will help them do what they need to do."

"He'll see right through me," I say just as softly.

"Don't let him," she says turning to look me in the eyes.

I take a deep breath and look directly in her eyes. I stand up straighter and I pull all of my determination into my eyes. I will myself to look like the strong woman Tig needs me to be. I want him safe so he needs to know that everything will be alright. I can do this.

"That's it baby girl," Gemma says proudly.

We walk over to our guys who are now getting onto their motorcycles. I walk up to Tig and take the hand he is holding out to me. As my hand closes around his he pulls me toward him and into his arms. "I'll be right back," he says slightly laughing.

"You better," I say standing back up and looking into his eyes. "And you had better be in one piece."

"Not a problem,' he shrugs trying to make this as less terrifying as possible.

"I'm not joking Alex," I say his name so he knows I'm serious. "I kind of like all of your parts exactly where they are at."

"Oh and what's your favorite part," he asks smirking as I blush.

"Well you come back in one piece and I'll tell you," I say smirking at him.

"How about I show you some of my parts tonight," he says making me laugh as he pulls me back to him. His lips touch mine gently at first letting me know that he will be fine. Then I feel his tongue trace my lips asking for entrance that I give as our kiss turns passionate. This one says how terrified we both are but want to prove to the other that everything will be fine. After a few moments we both realize that we need air we slowly pull apart. Tig gently kisses me again before looking into my eyes.

"Be safe," I say and he brushes some of my loose hair behind my ears.

"I will," he says softly. "Listen to Gemma ok."

I nod and kiss him one more time, "Remember back in one piece," I say and pull away and start to walk over to Gemma. She wraps her arm around me as the sound of engines erupts. We watch as Clay starts to move towards the entrance followed by Jax and Tig. As I watch Tig pass by he smirks that annoying smirk of his causing me to smile slightly.

"You're doing good baby girl," Gemma says softly as we watch the lot empty. "Come on let's get you something to drink," Gemma says leading me back to the clubhouse.

_Ava's Point Of View_

The whole time I couldn't bring myself to talk or even look at anyone. I know that I will probably be losing everything and everyone today. I watch as Tig wraps Nat up in his arms. I can tell she is trying to be strong for them both, and she is doing a great job of it. She is going to make one hell of an Old Lady one day, no matter how much I don't want her to be. I just hope that at some point she will be able to look back and remember the good I did do for her.

"You ok babe," Gus asks as the guys drive by.

"Ya, you know what I think we forgot to bring the groceries I promised." I say knowing that this will be my only chance to get away.

"Let me tell Piney and I'll take you," Gus says in a comforting voice that is only making me feel worse.

"I'll be ok, why don't you go hang out with the guys," I tell him ashamed of what I am about to do.

"Alright," he says hesitantly. "I still have to go tell Piney and get you an escort."

"Alright," I smile and reach up and kiss him before he smiles and turns and walks away.

As soon as Gus is out of sight I run to the car and jump in. I pull up to the gates and tell one of the guys who are guarding it that Piney said I could leave. They looked behind the car and I saw Piney in the rear view mirror talking to Gus. The two guys shrug and open the gate for me to leave. I guess they just figured I was telling the truth. As I pull out of the driveway I see two vans start after the direction the guys went. I turn the opposite direction and just drive through the small town. I drive and drive till I see the You Are Now Leaving Charming sign. I take a deep breath and never stop.

_Stahl's Point Of View_

"Alright looks like the boys just took off," I say to the team I am with. "We know that they have weapons on them and we know that they are heading to Mayan territory. I want everyone to wait till after the first shot occurs. I don't care if one of them gets hurt, we are taking them all down today."

"I thought," an agent begins.

"You aren't paid to think," I snap. "Just do as I say and make this as flawless as possible."

I feel the van begin to move and I feel a sense of euphoria. This is it I'm finally going to nail these assholes. I am finally going to get some recognition, and I am finally going to get rid of that bitch. I have waited years and today I get to fulfill all of my dreams. Those thugs will end up in prison and that bitch will die as a rat. It's almost comical; I can't help but silently laugh to myself. I'm just going to sit here and relax. I already have a plan for dear mister Tragger, and let's just say I hope him and little Nat have said their goodbyes.


	26. One Piece Part Two

_Tig's Point of View_

"Clay man something don't feel right," I say as I look around at the deserted Mayan warehouse. The moment we hit the street after we left the garage I got this feeling. And this feeling I got sure as hell isn't a warm and cuddly one.

"You're right," he says looking around. The warehouse that the Mayan's use is deserted and shit is all over the place. "Fuck!" he yells kicking an empty crate.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," I say.

"Clay," we hear Bobby yell out. We look over and he is looking behind some boxes that are stacked high up. As we all walk over we notice a distinctive smell. "Looks like someone else showed up to send a message," Bobby says looking down at the kid laying in a pool of blood, dead lifeless eyes staring back at us.

"Shit," Clay mutters looking at the kid.

"It's time to get the fuck out of here," I say getting the distinct feeling that we're being watched. As I look around at our surroundings I hear a vehicle pull up. "Shit guys lets go," I say and we all start to make our way out of the building.

As we creep our way around the wall and to our bikes in the back we hear people talking. "She said they would be here."

"Are you sure you can trust anything she said?"

"Yes," the voice says and we can recognize it as fucking agent Stahl's. "She can't afford to lie to me I have too much one her. Now if you boys will do your job you would notice that there are motorcycle tracks that lead to here, so my intelligent team find me the fucking bikers who made them!"

I slowly turn my head and look at Clay. Who the fuck is this she person? More importantly how did she know what the hell was going on. No one knew, not even Gemma where we were going. The only people who knew are here and Piney and Gus. Who the fuck ratted us out?

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Clay mutters softly as not to draw attention to us. As we creep towards the back where we saw a door I hear a thumping noise like someone knocked something over.

"Agent Stahl, you're going to want to see this," we hear.

"Well, well what do we have here," she says softly.

I motion for the guys to keep going while I look around the crates to see what the hell she found. Turns out she found our poor little dead friend. "You think they did it?" the agent asks her.

"No, no I don't, but this just may work in our favor," she says smirking. "You know what a little change in plans is in order. Let's go boys," she says and starts to walk away.

"Shouldn't we call this in," the agent asks.

"No, no we're not," she smirks and continues to walk away. "They wanted to get some attention so why don't we further assist them. Besides boys, our little surprise for one of them is still in play. This just makes it all worthwhile. Damn I love it when it all comes together."

"What are you going to do about her? They probably know we are here and that we know that know they were here too," the agent asks as he follows her.

"Relax by now the others have found our little present. They'll be too distracted by it, and it will point them in her direction. That bitch doesn't know what is going to hit her. Once they figure out it's her who has been telling us everything both of those loose ends will be tied up."

I watch as they all leave, and that sick feeling is increasing. I got a feeling I know who that she is and I hope for her sake I'm wrong. I waited until the agents had all left and I heard the sound of their vehicle pull away before making my way outside. As I walked behind the trees behind the building that we used to block the sight of our bikes the guys look at me expectantly. "Well they're gone," I say.

"And," Clay says

"Said we have a rat, and that rat is a she," I say.

"Tell us something we don't know Tigger," Bobby says.

"Said she has something for us and that the others are gonna find a surprise," I say looking down. "Shit doesn't feel right man."

"Who the hell could have known what the hell we planned to do and been stupid enough to tell some bitch," Kozik asks.

I hate to say it but it's my job to do and say the tough shit no one wants to admit. "It was Gus," I say looking straight at Clay.

"You're fucked in the head," Bobby says already in denial. "Gus wouldn't dare rat us out after our history."

"He is the only one who knows what was supposed to go down today. And I didn't say Gus was the rat, I said he was the idiot who can't keep his fucking mouth shut around his wife," I say in a menacing voice, already hardening myself to what I know I am going to have to do.

"No," Bobby says shaking his head. "Ava wouldn't do something like that."

"So you're saying Gemma would," I ask glaring at him. "I know I sure as hell I didn't tell Natalie anything and she's been with me this entire time so she couldn't have done it."

"I just think we should look at this from all directions," Bobby says getting in my face.

"And why is that huh Bobby," I ask getting back in his face knowing exactly why Bobby would go in this direction.

"Enough," Clay yells as his phone starts to ring. "What" he barks. "We're on our way," he says after a moments and puts his phone away. "That was Jax they never made it to their destination. They were being followed and turns out the damn Mayans were more than ready. Like fucking tried to ride them down ready. Turns out they got a little heads up on our recent activities."

_Natalie's Point of View (Five Hours After Tig Left)_

It's been a couple hours since the guys all left. We noticed immediately after that Ava was missing. Piney questioned the guys guarding the gates and they said she told them that Piney gave the ok for her to leave. Piney was pissed and Gus is freaking out. Piney sent two guys I hadn't met yet out to find her. Something doesn't feel right with this situation and the more that I think on it, I feel sicker and sicker. As I pace the floor in Tig's room I can't help but think about everything and anything that could possibly be going on right now. I just hope that all of the guys are all right and that I'm wrong.

"You alright sweetheart," I hear and turn around to see Gemma standing there.

"I'm fine," I say and sit down on the bed.

"Sure you are, and the new hole in the floor states otherwise," she says and softly laughs. "Things are tough when you don't know what is goin on, but you get through it," she says sitting down next to me. "The first time is the hardest, but it gets easier."

"If you say so," I say smiling at her slightly. I'm not so sure I could ever get used to this feeling.

"Where the fuck is she!" we hear someone who sounds like Clay yell. Gemma and I look at each other before we jump up and race out of the room. As we make our way into the main room we see the women and children being ushered outside while Clay and the guys surround Gus. My first instinct is to run to Gus but as I step forward Gemma reaches out and pulls me back.

"Gemma," I say urgently. I look around and see the guys surrounding Gus and they all look like they are ready to kill someone. As I look at Tig I see him totally focused on Gus. His eyes are calculating and cold.

"I'm gonna ask you again old friend," Clay says holding on to Gus's shirt leaning in towards him. "Where the hell is she?"

"I don't know Clay," Gus says shaking his head then looks over at me.

"You know where she went?" Clay asks walking towards me. I look over at Tig trying to get a sense of what's going on, but he doesn't look at me. "Natalie," Clay says loudly making me jump.

"Know where who is," I ask shakily.

"Ava," Clay says stopping just in front of me.

I'm not exactly sure what they want to know so I tell them the truth. "I don't know," I say and see Clay tense like he is going to yell at me. I feel Gemma tense as her grip on my arm slightly tightens, so I quickly say, "all I know is that she disappeared after you all left. I swear Clay that's all I know."

He looks me in the eyes for a few moments longer before turning back to Gus. "Where is she?" he asks him again.

"If I knew Clay don't you think I would have left and got her ass back here by now," Gus says sitting down warily. "She won't answer my phone calls, and she took the car."

"What the hell is going on," Gemma asks drawing the room's attention to her.

"Apparently Gus and Ava have full disclosure," Tig says looking at Gemma and avoiding me, "and apparently Ava has full disclosure with Stahl."

"No," I say automatically jumping to her defense. "Ava would never put you all at risk like that."

"Stay out of this Nat," Tig says finally looking at me.

"No not when you're making a serious accusation about someone I care about," I say heatedly ignoring Gemma trying to calm me down.

"This is none of your business kid," Tig says before looking at Gemma, "Do me a favor and get her out of here."

"Sure, come on Natalie," she says starting to pull me away.

"No," I say and pull away from her.

"Natalie go," Tig yells. When I don't move he adds, "Now!"

First I stand there and just stare at him, "Fine," I say softly and turn to walk away. I walk past Gemma and head back to Tig's room. As I walk in I slam the door and lean back against it. I just stay there for what feels like hours soaking everything in. What the hell is going on? Why would they even consider Ava doing such a thing? Ava does everything she can to protect those she cares about she would never hurt anyone.

"Nat," I hear Gemma call out as she knocks on the door. I back away from the door and let her in. As she walks in I close the door and follow her as she moves to sit on the bed. "They thought it would be better if I gave you this," she says drawing my attention to an envelope I didn't realize she was holding.

"What's that?" I ask hesitantly.

"Something that isn't very good baby girl," she says a little teary eyed. "The boys received this while they were out today, I don't have the details," she says when I go to ask how.

"Ok," I say and slowly reach out to take the huge envelope. I slowly open it and pull out its contents noticing the first page is a note.

**Dear Natalie,**

**If you are reading this then the big bad bikers are good for something. This is a file I hope you actually do look at this time for everyone's benefit. In this file you will find some things that you should have known about a very long time ago. I know I should have been the one to tell you face to face but that doesn't seem to be an option. Just remember that what I am doing is for you and for them.**

**June**

After I finish reading the letter I hand it to Gemma. She just looks at me like she already knows what it says. As I go to open the file she asks, "Do you want me to go?"

"No," I say quickly feeling needy. "Please stay."

"Alright," she says wrapping her arms around my shoulder.

Shakily open the file and begin to read its contents. I find a file on Ava, what in the world would June have on Ava. As I read more it states how a few years ago there was an accident where she killed two people. Apparently it was night, raining, and she was drinking. She ran her car right into them. As I read further it talks about the deal she made with June. There are also pages that talk about the information she has been giving the ATFs over the last couple of years. As I sit there shocked reading and rereading the pages I notice that a page fell to the floor. I pick it up and find that it has more information about her accident. As I skim down the page I see the two victims' names and my blood runs cold. There in bold letters are the names of my parents. I look over at Gemma shocked as she tightens her hold on me like I'm about to fall apart.

"You gonna be alright baby," Gemma asks.

I just sit there for a moment before jumping up and pacing the room. That fucking bitch is all that I can think as I move back and forth across the room. Gemma just sits there and watches me. All of a sudden all of the anger in me explodes. The anger of losing my parents, at being lied to, at being kidnapped and beaten, hell even for being humiliated earlier when I protected that lying conniving bitch. I can't believe that I considered her a mother figure when she was the one who took my real mother away. As my feelings take over I start tearing everything apart. I knock over everything on Tig's dresser; I throw an empty bottle at the wall, and everything around me I feel like attacking. As I descend my wrath upon Tig's room I suddenly feel arms wrap around me trying to restrain me. This makes me only want to fight more. "Let me go," I scream trying to break free.

"Shshshshsh," I hear a voice say as they hold onto me even tighter. As they whisper calming words to me the fight in me starts to lesson. "That's it baby," I hear.

As I sink to the ground the person follows keeping their arms around me. "How could she," I ask in a broken voice now crying so hard that my head and chest feel like they are breaking. I look up into Tig's eyes. He just continues to hold me as I relax into him reliving all of the grief from their death again. This time it hurts even more.

"I'm so sorry Nat," I hear and see Gus in the doorway looking at me with tears in his own eyes.

"Did you know," I ask him angrily.

"No, sweetheart I didn't know," he says brokenly. I want to believe him but right now I hurt too much. I just shake my head and burrow closer into Tig.

"Can I have my phone," I ask quietly.

"What was that," Tig asks looking down at me.

"Can I have my phone," I repeat. "She won't answer any of you but she will answer me," I say looking over at Gemma and Clay. "I didn't think to call her earlier because I was distracted and that is what she probably counted on."

"I can call her from your phone," Tig starts before I cut him off.

"No," I say firmly. "I want to talk to her."

"Here baby," Gemma says handing me my phone ignoring Tig's protests.

_Tig's Point of View_

After Nat left the room we told Gemma and Gus the news we found out and why we needed Ava. We showed Gus the envelope and he just looked at us in shock. Hell none of us want to believe this.

"Gemma," I say softly getting her attention.

"Yes Tigger," she says looking at me sadly.

"She has a right to know," I say nodding towards the envelope Gus was currently holding.

"I'll tell her," he says starting to stand up on shaky legs.

"No," Clay says, "She won't listen to a damn thing you say after she reads that. Let Gemma tell her."

"You sure that is gonna be a good idea," she asks looking at us.

"Yes," I say knowing that she has to know the truth no matter what.

"Ok," she says.

After sharing a look with Clay and me she takes the envelope and heads to my room. We all sat around trying to figure out what to do next when we heard a crashing noise. As we all looked at each other the sounds got louder and the destruction more audible. I hear glass break and I can't take it anymore. My girl is in pain and needs me; I can be a cold hearted bastard later she needs me now. I walk quickly down the hall and see Gemma standing by the doorway. I move past her ignoring the mess that was once my room. I quickly go over to Natalie and hold her even as she fights me. I try to calm her down but I know she just needs to let the pain run its course. As the fight leaves her I feel her relax a little into me. After talking to Gus and sitting in our place on the floor she finally calmed down enough that I don't have to worry that she'll hyperventilate. I was shocked as hell when she said she wants to be the one to talk to Ava, but I sure as hell am not going to leave her alone as she does it.

_Natalie's Point of View_

Tig and I didn't move from our spot on the floor as I open my phone and bring up Ava's number. Truthfully I have no idea what I want to say to her first, I guess I'll just have to decide when she answers her phone. I press send and lean back into Tig so he can hear the conversation too.

" _Hello,"_ Ava answers timidly

"Hey Ava, everyone is worried about you," I say calmly. "Where did you go?"

" _Nowhere,"_ she says cautiously, but I can hear noises in the background talling me exactly where she is.

"You know something interesting just happened," I tell her.

" _Oh really,"_ she says sounding curious.

"Yah the guys just got back from their outing," I say with a hint of sarcasm.

" _Are they alright,"_ she asks quietly almost sounding concerned.

"Yes but we all are a little confused," I say starting to get angry. "You see they came back more than a little enlightened about a few things."

" _Is that so baby girl,"_ she says making my blood go hot.

"Yes," I start," It seems that June left them a little present for them and myself. Turns out someone has been ratting on them and she graciously provided them with said person's name."

" _I can't believe someone would do that to them,"_ she says what I assume was a shocked voice.

"You lying bitch," I say suddenly causing her to gasp and Tig to tighten his hold on me.

" _Natalie_ ," she gasps.

"Do you know what else she filled us in on," I ask.

" _Nat, she is probably just lying_ ," she rushes to say.

"She said it was you who killed my parents," I say interrupting her. "I can't believe I ever trusted you. That I ever considered you as family. You have no idea how much I hate you," I say venomously.

" _Natalie please_ ," I hear her beg.

"How could you kill them and then try to replace them," I continue on ignoring her pleas. "Did you think that by taking in your victim's orphan your guilt would go away?"

" _Natalie you have to believe me I never meant for any of this to happen_."

"But it did," I yell. "How could you do this to me?"

" _Please I never meant for anyone to get hurt_."

I stop and look down at the ground taking in a deep breath. I can't believe everything that has just happened. This morning I believed everything may just be alright and now everything has just turned to shit. "Because of you I have lost two of the people who I love most in this world. Because of you I am probably going to lose someone else. I don't want to see you; I don't want to hear from you ever again. I want you to lose my number, forget my address, and cease to exist in my mind."

" _Natalie please you don't understand_."

"No you don't understand, I will never forgive you for this," I say coldly and snap the phone shut. After a moment I look over at Clay standing by the door. "It sounded like she was at a train station. I heard an announcer and someone calling last call. There is only one station that she could have gone to and its three towns over."

"Good job kid," Clay says nodding at me as everyone leaves the room leaving me and Tig alone.


	27. Pretty Impressive

_Natalie's Point of View_

After the others left the room Tig and I remained on the floor in the same position. He is sitting behind me with me between his legs, his arms wrapped tightly around me. I don't know how long we have been sitting here and truthfully at the moment I don't really care. I know it's selfish but I just had to absorb a lot of information and want him to stay with me. But then again so did the rest of them and I'm sure with how much they all love Ava they all are reeling as well. "Tig," I say softly.

"Ya, baby," he says resting his head on my shoulder.

"Do you have to go with them to go get her," I say unable to say her name out loud.

"Yes," he says with a sigh.

Again I know it's selfish but I just wish the others could just go without him. Right now I just want him to stay with me. I feel like I will literally fall apart right now if he lets me go. "Cant they go without you?" I ask in weak sounding voice.

I feel him sigh and nuzzle my neck before he answers. "It's part of my job to go. I do the hard stuff the others cant. I protect this club, and I have to stand by my brothers."

"I was never asking you to not "stand with your brothers,'" I repeat his words back to him suddenly defensive. I start to stand up and move away from him, suddenly not wanting to be near him. I mean honestly cant he see that I need him too.

"Look Nat," he says standing up and walking over to me. "I care about you and I get that you're hurting right now but the club needs me too. I know your pissed and hurt but I cant just ignore my responsibilities to the club."

I cant believe he just said that to me. I turn from him and walk to the window just staring out as the guys start to get into the van. "You have no idea what I am feeling right now," I say bitterly. "You know what, their leaving," I say gesturing to the window and looking back at him. "better hurry they wouldn't know what to do if you weren't there to hold their hands." I say glaring at him before storming to the bathroom and slamming and locking the door.

I sit down on the side of the tub and just stare at the door. I cant believe he just chose them over me. Then like a ton of bricks it hits me. What the hell did I just do? I hear a crashing noise and flinch. Oh my God what did I just do? He has done everything in his power to protect me, just held me as I fell apart and I throw it all back in his face because I didn't want him to go and help protect his family. Quickly I jump up from the tub and open the door. Right away I notice Tig wasn't there and his door is wide open, so I just run through it. As I make my way outside I see the van already turning on to the street.

_Tig's Point of View_

What the hell just happened? What does she expect me to do, just ignore my duty to the club? Fuck this shit right now. I grab the clock that was lying on my dresser and throw it at the wall next to the bathroom where she locked herself in. Fuck this I'll deal with this shit later. I walk out of my room not even bothering to close the door. I walk outside and get into the back of the van and close the door behind me.

"You ok there brother," Clay asks looking at me weird.

"I'm fine," I snap. "Let's get this shit taken care of."

It didn't take long for us to get to the train station. We all covered up our cuts and make our way inside. We split into three groups hoping to find Ava quickly and quietly. I went with Clay and Bobby. We covered that whole damn station and didn't find her anywhere. As we went to take one last look at the train getting ready to leave I saw her. "Fuck there she is," I tell clay pointing to her as she stares at us through the window with fear.

As we start to make our way toward her we have to push through the people trying to make their trains. Just as we get to where she is at the train starts off and we see Ava take a sigh of relief. She had the gall to look sad as the train leaves the station. Fuck, I just hope she has enough sense to never come back.

_Natalie's Point of View_

After Tig left I just stood and watched the van as it disappeared. When I finally decided to go back inside I ignored Gemma and everyone else and just went back to Tig's room and locked the door. I looked around and felt hollow. I have gone through so many emotions today and I just feel like shutting down. I see the mess that I created in Tig's room and honestly I'm shocked I did this. I walk over to the bed and see a picture frame lying just under it. I reach down and pick it up, turning it over to see the picture. I look down and see two gorgeous little girls. They cant be more than seven maybe eight, and they are smiling up at the camera. There is no doubt in my mind that they are related to Tig, I mean you would have to be blind to miss the resemblance. They both had his black curly unruly hair, and beautiful blue eyes. I wonder why he never mentioned them to me before. I cant believe I knocked this over.

I slowly sit down on the bed and hold the frame in my hands. How do I fix this? Gently I sit the frame on the bed and get up. Before I know it I have cleaned the room top to bottom. I made sure everything was back where I think they were supposed to be and I placed the frame of the two girls on the stand by Tig's bed. I look out the window and notice that its now dark, but the guys aren't back yet. In a way I hope they don't find her, I really don't think I can face her ever again. I walk back to the bed and lay down snuggling one of Tigs pillows close.

Slowly I open my eyes and realize that I feel a bit warm. I look down and see arms wrapped around my waist and feel someone snuggled up to my back. "Tig" I ask shocked that he even wants to be anywhere near me.

"You snore," he mumbles tightening his hold on me.

"I do not," I say softly laughing before turning serious. "I am soo sorry for what I said."

He sighs and starts to turn me over to face him. When I can finally see his eyes he starts to speak. "You have been hurt really bad today so I'm gonna forget what happened. But I want you to know that the club is my family and on many occasions like today it comes first."

"Ok," I say softly looking up at him. "So you're not mad at me'" I ask him.

"No babe," he laughs. "You still mad at me?"

"Nope," I say smiling at him.

He smiles at me and I let out a breath of relief. He then leans down and gently places a kiss on my lips. I cant help but slightly moan as his tongue gently traces my lips. Timidly I reach my tongue forward to meet his. Before long he is gently sucking my tongue into his mouth before delving his in and out of mine.

At some point during our make-out session I find myself lying on my back with Tig on top of me between my legs. I feel him reach a hand down and begin to message my breast. As I moan Tig captures the sound by thoroughly kissing me. I give a frustrated sigh when his hand leaves me to hold on to my waist. Before I realize his intentions my shirt is up over my head and Tigs hands are wrapped around me reaching for the clasp to my bra. As he leans down and begins kissing my neck I start to focus on the feeling he is inducing in me. As I feel his hands start to pull my bra away from my body I quickly reach up and grab the material keeping me covered. Tig looks down at me and smirks like he already knew I would be doing this.

"Your beautiful baby," he murmurs kissing along my collar bone. "Let me see you."

I look up at him slightly unsure. This is a big step in our budding relationship. As I look into his eyes I see his sincerity and something else I cant determine. I know he cares about me and I can trust him. Keeping eye contact with him I slowly lower my arms allowing him to remove that particular scrap of clothing. I feel a blush rising in my cheeks as he stares down at me and tosses my bra to the side of the bed. Gently he brings a hand up and  begins to trace right above my breast. Slowly he begins to trace down and when he gently runs his finger over my nipple I moan aloud making him softly laugh.

"Tig," I say breathlessly

"Ya baby," he says leaning down and kissing just below my ear and begins to kiss down my neck. "What do you need," he asks as his mouth reaches my breast. When he sucks my nipple into his mouth I lose all train of thought. His other hand reaches up from its place on my hip and gives my other breast attention.

"Tig," I moan as my hands tangle in his hair holding him closer to me.

Tig just "hmms" at me before moving his mouth over to my other aching breast. I reach down and begin to tug at his shirt. Slowly he sits up and takes his shirt off tossing it to the side. As my eyes devour the sight of him my hands move to his chest as I run them over his shoulder then across his abs. he smirks before taking his place back between my legs laying his chest down directly on mine. The feel of his skin on mine has to be the best feeling in the world. He leans down and kisses me, gently nipping my bottom lip before soothing the sting gently sucking on the abused flesh.

As I start focusing on his mouth again I feel him reach down and bring my leg up around his hip. As I feel him press into me I start to panic. "Tig," I say turning away from his mouth slightly. "Wait."

"You alright," he asks lifting up from me a bit to look in my eyes.

"Its just a bit too much," I say not meeting his eyes.

"Hey," he says, "Come on look at me Natalie."

"What," I sigh meeting his eyes with my totally mortified ones. I cant believe I just freaked out on him.

"I said we would go at your pace," he says smirking down at me.

"But," I begin only to have him cut me off with a kiss. I mean I can feel how affected he is at this moment as well.

"Its fine babe," he says nuzzling my neck. I look at him a bit shocked and he just laughs. "Come on babe lets get you comfortable and get some sleep."

I let a squeal of surprise when he reaches down and begins to undo my pants. "Tig," I say shocked slightly moving away from him.

"Relax babe I saw you run around in a towel, and half naked so sleeping with you just in your underwear is nothing," He says laughing as he tugs my jeans down my legs. "Besides I always sleep in the nude,' he says wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I just chuckle nervously as he takes his jeans off as well just leaving him in his boxers. He then crawls back up the bed and slightly turns me so my back is pressed into his front, and lets just say I feel so bad for him right now. From what I can feel behind me Tig is pretty impressive. As I am contemplating the man snuggled up behind me said man has certain thoughts of his own. I feel his hand slide around me and cup my breast. "Tig," I say quietly.

"Hmmm just go to sleep," he laughs moving his hand to wrap it around my waist. I just shake my head and settle down to sleep. At the moment forgetting everything that happened today only enjoying being wrapped in his arms.


	28. In Time

_Natalie's Point of View_

"Hmmm Tig stop," I giggle as I feel him run his hand up and down my back. "That tickles," I say reaching behind me and grab his hand.

"Come on babe," he laughs, "let's go get something to eat."

"You go ahead," I say because he already has gotten dressed. He woke up way before me this morning. "I'll be out in a few minutes."

"You sure you don't need any help getting ready," he asks with a smirk, "I'm more than happy to oblige."

"Soon, but not just yet," I say blushing looking down at the bed.

"Ok," he sighs dramatically causing me to laugh. When he leans down kiss me I quickly cover my mouth. "What is this," he asks motioning to my hand.

"Morning breath," I say simply and slowly start to get off the bed.

"Are you seriously concerned over morning breath," he says looking at me like I've grown two heads.

"Yes," I say as I stand then quickly make my way into the bathroom and close the door.

I hear him laugh and say something about Gemma leaving some stuff for me under the sink before I hear the door close. I smile to myself, of course Gemma would think of everything. She put some shampoo, soap, deodorant, and a new tooth brush away for me. After I take care of business and shower I wrap Tig's towel around me and make my way into the bedroom. I put on my clothes from the day before, before I make my way out of Tig's room. I can hear laughter and talking as I make my way to Tig's side as he sits at the bar next to Happy. "Morning," I say as Tig wraps his arm around me.

Happy just quirks his eyebrow at me and takes a drink from his coffee cup. For a moment I just stare at him and tilt my head. Before I can stop myself, "I don't get it," I blurt out. "Your name makes absolutely no sense. I mean I have only seen you smile like, maybe, you know never. So how in the world did you end up with the name Happy?"

He just stares at me for a moment and I can feel Tig laughing behind me. As I stare into Happy's dark eyes I won't lie, it's kind of scary. "Doc and Dopey were taken," he says standing up and walking away.

"Man I know someone who would be perfect for him," I say laughing.

_Gemma's Point of View_

As I watch Nat interact with the guys I can't help but feel proud. She took some major hits yesterday, fucked up with her man, but had herself fixed and on the right the next day. She reminds me of me when I was that young and trusting. She is just what we need and we are just what she needs, a family.

"Hey Gemma," Nat says walking up to me with a smile on her face.

"Morning baby," I say giving her a hug. "Did you find the stuff I left for you under the sink?"

"Yes I did, thank you so so so much."

"Anytime," I laugh.

"Do you think you could drive me to Tig's so I can change?"

"Sure baby girl," I say wrapping my arm around her waist. "We also are going to go shopping and to get our hair done because the guys are going to be busy for most of the day."

"What? Why ma," Jax asks walking up to us.

"Because we had to close the garage down yesterday and we will be backed up if you lazy asses don't actually get to work," I say causing the guys to groan. I also know she probably needs some one on one girl time to help her heal and just to talk.

"Alright you heard her," Clay says sitting down at the bar, "get to work."

"You too," I say smirking at him. "You get to run the office."

With my parting remark Nat I leave the clubhouse and start our girl's day. First thing is a change of clothes, that Elmo shirt is freaking me out.

_(Time Jump)_

As Nat and I walk into the clubhouse we can't help but smile as we see the guys sitting around looking exhausted and filthy. "Wow you must have actually accomplished something," I say as they all glare in my direction which only causes me to laugh.

I look over to Nat who has been pulled onto Tig's lap as he whispers something in her ear. She nods and stands up and walks over to me. When she reaches me she gives me a big hug and kisses my cheek.

"Thank you," she says holding me tight for a moment.

"Anytime baby girl," I say and gently push her towards the direction Tig headed. Yes I'm going to take of her as if she is my own. And no one will ever damage my baby the way Ava did again.

_Natalie's Point Of View/Dream_

When I walked into Tig's room he is in the bathroom and it sounds like he has started the shower. As I lay down on the bed to wait for him and I start to drift off. Today with Gemma was nice. It was a nice break from reality, and Gemma was absolutely perfect. It makes me miss those days I had with my mom.

" _Natalie, Natalie, Natalie," my mother laughs as we sit on the couch laughing over the story I just told her about what happened a couple days ago. "Sweetheart I don't know what I'm going to do with you."_

" _You can love me," I say snuggling into her side as she wraps her arms around me and kisses the top of my head._

" _That I can promise I will always do," she sighs._

" _I miss this when you're not here," I say starting to tear up._

" _I know baby," she says holding me tighter. "I realize that I don't get to see you much anymore, but that doesn't mean that I love you any less."_

_"How long do you get to stay," I ask holding onto her just as tightly as she is holding me._

" _I have to leave in a little while," she sighs, "I won't be far though."_

" _But you can't leave," I begin to protest, "You just got here. I need you."_

" _Oh sweetheart if I could stay I would, you know that," she says starting to cry too. "I love you so much. You are so strong and beautiful. I am so proud that I have you for my daughter."_

" _Mom cant you please stay for a while longer," I beg._

" _I can't, and I am so sorry for that," she sighs and I can feel her shake her head. "But baby it's time to start letting me go. Your dad and I love you so much but the longer you hold on the more you'll be stuck in the past."_

" _No," I say pulling back slightly so I can look into her eyes. "I can't, what if I start to forget about you? I need you here with me," I sob, "Both of you."_

" _Baby, we will always be right here," she says holding her hand and mine to my heart. "I promise sweetheart we aren't going to go anywhere."_

" _It's not fair," I say as she starts to wipe the tears running down my face._

" _I know," she says softly gently cupping my face, "I need you to do something for me."_

" _Anything Mama," I say in a determined tone._

" _Forgive Ava," she says. "You need to forgive her because if you don't your anger will fester and it will consume your entire life. If not for me you need to forgive her for you."_

" _I can't make any promises," I say honestly, "but I'll try."_

" _That's my girl," she says hugging me close. "I have to go now baby," she says stroking my hair._

" _I know," I say sadly, "I love you so much mama and daddy too."_

" _I know and we both love you too baby," she says hugging me tight. "We love you and always will."_

"It's alright sweetheart, let it out," I hear someone say softly as they stroke my hair away from my face.

I slowly open my eyes and notice that I am curled in the fetal position and the person behind me has their arms wrapped around me. The person is also whispering calming words to me. It doesn't take long to realize that the person is Gemma and she is slightly rocking both of us back and forth. As I look up I see Tig sitting on the side of the bed looking worried. When he slightly smiles and gently wipes at my face I realize that I must have been crying.

"What's going on," I ask in a hoarse voice, but no one answers me.

"Give us a minute Tigger," Gemma says softly.

"Gem," he begins to protest before she cuts in.

"She'll be fine, just let us have a minute," she says sternly.

Tig looks at me as if determining whether or not I need him more and if he should defy Gemma. I give him a small smile to help convince him. After all we don't need him to be in trouble with her. After a moment he stands up and walks out of the room quietly closing the door. As soon as he does I turn around and bury myself in Gemma's arms.

"I miss her so much," I cry.

"I know baby, I know," she says softly. "I'm not gonna lie and say it's not going to hurt like hell, because it will. But it will get better with time."


	29. Make Happy Happy

_Gemma's Point Of View_

"Hey," I hear Tig say as he walks back into the room. "She ok?"

"Ya Tiggy, she'll be fine," I say as I brush Natalie's hair away from her face. She had finally fallen asleep.

"What the hell happened Gemma," he asks me softly sitting on the side of the bed.

"She's dealing with a lot of shit right now," I sigh. I guess sometimes we forget she isn't as old as she seems to be. She's a tough little thing but even the toughest of all have their moments where they just need to fall apart. At least she trusts us enough to let us help her through it. "She just found out the woman who was basically a mother figure to her actually killed her mother, not to mention the shit that's been going on around here. I'm surprised she lasted as long as she has without having a meltdown."

"She didn't melt down Gemma," Tig says defensively.

"Ok Tig," I say softly and unwind myself from Nat's grip. "Here don't let her wake up alone," I say standing up watching as Tig takes my place. It's something to watch how quickly my little psychopath turns into a lovesick puppy over a woman. I smile softly and walk out of the room gently closing the door.

As I walk up to the bar I see Clay and Bobby talking to Happy. Happy looks stressed so this can't be good. "Hey baby," I say walking up to Clay.

"Hey," he says wrapping an arm around my waist pulling me close. "The kid alright?"

"She'll be ok in time," I sigh. "That bitch really did a number on her."

"Don't worry she'll get hers someday," Clay says gently squeezing me.

"You ok sweetheart," I ask looking over at Happy.

"My ma's not doing so well," He says rubbing his head.

"What's going on," I ask concerned. Happy may be a stoned cold killer but when it comes to his mother I swear you would actually believe he could be a big softy. She has to be the only woman in the world he would do anything for.

"I had to move her in with my aunt and the costs of meds are just about breaking me," he sighs.

"What about that nursing home you were looking into," I ask.

"They want more than I can afford," he says not looking at any of us. "At least with my aunt someone is there to help her, but even she needs some help sometimes."

"Oh baby," I say understanding what he is going through. "Whatever you need we will do our best to help," I say moving away from Clay to hug Happy. "We'll figure something out," I say rubbing his shoulders while I give a pointed look at Clay.

_Nat's Point View_

I feel something heavy draped across my waist as it tightens its hold on me. As I open my eyes I realize that I am still curled up on Tig's bed, but the arm holding onto me doesn't look like Gemma's. "Tig," I say sleepily turning in his arms to look at him.

"Hey kid," he says as I finish adjusting myself.

"I didn't mean to freak out," I say looking down at his chest.

"It's alright kid, your human," he says squeezing me gently. "I'm just glad Gemma was here to help."

"Me too," I say softly. I really am, Gemma was the perfect person for him to get. I just don't want them to think that all I do is freak out. I mean I will be the first to say that since I've met Tig I've been in some sort of trouble, though not all of it has been my fault. I just want a break from all of the shit that has been going on. I just want some alone time with Tig, for it just to be the two of us away from the club, and all of the drama from both our sides from the last few days.

"Hey Creepy," I say softly looking into his eyes.

"Ya Kid," he smirks running his hand up and down my back.

"Do you think we could go home today," I ask quietly. When I see the look of confusion, I quickly say, "Your place I mean. I love being around everyone, but it would be nice to just be around you, even if it is for a little while."

"Sure," he says softly with that same smirk. I swear sometimes he looks like the cat that ate the canary.

We just lay there for a little while wrapped around one another. A few moments later we pull ourselves off of his bed and make our way out of his room. As we walk over by the bar we see Gemma, Clay, Bobby, and Happy. "Hey sweetheart," Gemma says as we walk over to her.

"Hey Gemma," I say giving her a hug. "Thank you," I whisper, causing her to squeeze me tighter for a moment. She just smiles down at me before pulling away.

"So what's going on," Tig asks taking a seat next to Happy.

"Not much," Happy says looking stressed.

As I look at Happy I can see that he doesn't look the same as when I first met him. He looks like Tig does sometimes, like he has a massive weight on his shoulders. For some reason it bothers me that this stoic man looks like this. Before I can stop myself I walk over and hug Happy around the shoulders. I think this shocked everyone more than Happy himself. He just tilted his head up and looked at me like I had lost my mind. When I finally let go of him I noticed the looks on everyone's faces. Clay just raised his eyebrows, Bobby's jaw slightly dropped, Gemma just smirked, and Tig looked like he didn't know whether to glare or laugh.

"What," I say looking at them feeling a blush rise.

"What's with the hugging," Tig says motioning between me and Happy.

"He looked like he needed a hug," I say defending my actions. "I mean come on we should all pitch in to help make Happy happy." They all just continue to stare at me as I turn and walk out of the clubhouse. Before the door closes behind me I hear Clay say, "Oh Tiggy you better watch out. Looks like you have some competition now," he laughs. "Did you not hear she wants to make Happy happy."

Then I heard a loud smack and, "You ass that's not what she meant," from Gemma.

I just chuckle and sit down at one of the benches enjoying the warmth from the sun. As I am basking I just close my eyes and relax. It's not long before I notice a shadow is looming over me. I open my eyes and see Tig standing over me.

"So babe is there something we need to discuss," Tig says trying to pull off a serious look.

"Whatever do you mean," I ask him sitting up.

"You got a thing for Hap," he asks. I can tell from the look in his eyes that he is half joking, half serious. After all I did just hug one of the guys that Tig is closest to and claim that I wanted to make him happy.

"Alex," I say softly standing up from the bench. I wrap my arms around his waist, look up at him and say, "I want you; no one has crossed my mind since I have met you." As I speak I notice him relax into a playful smirk. "But I have to say he is pretty hot. You think I have a chance," I say starting to turn around.

"Uh uh baby," he says pulling me back into his arms. "Your mine," he says possessively before gracing me with a bruising kiss. His tongue plunders my mouth as he steals my breath. As I begin to feel light headed he lets me go and smirks down at me, "Come on Kid, lets go home."

I'm still reeling from his kiss so all I can manage is a nod. He just smirks and starts to walk towards his bike. I barely can keep up, I'm not sure my legs are working properly yet. As I reach him I climb on his bike behind him and wrap my arms around him tightly.

_Slight Time Jump_

It didn't take long for Tig and I to make it to his house. For the last couple hours all we have done is eat a small meal and curl up together on his couch watching TV. We ended up watching the Fast and the Furious; I couldn't help but be shocked when he said he had never seen it.

"You actually like this shit," he asks during the scene where Dom says my favorite line about living life a quarter mile at a time.

"It's a good movie," I say lifting my head up from his chest. "Not to mention Vin Diesel is one of the main reasons to watch it."

"I'm supposed to like this movie because some dude is in it," he asks looking at me like I've lost it.

"Yes," I say seriously. "Most importantly because he's hot."

"Oh he's hot is he," Tig asks raising an eyebrow at me.

"Very hot," I say smirking. "I mean just look at him."

"You want hot I'll show you hot," he says.

"Tig," I laugh as he picks me and tosses me over his shoulder. He playfully smacks my butt as he makes his way down the hallway into his room. "Ouch," I laugh.

He just laughs and walks into the bedroom where he tosses me onto the bed laughing harder as he watches me bounce. "Damn now that's a sight I love," he says looking directly at my breasts.

"What are you doing," I ask when I notice him close his eyes and watch as a massive smile takes over his face.

"Imagining what you would look like topless bouncing on the bed like that," he says opening his eyes.

"Alex, Alex, Alex," I say softly chuckling. "If you wanted to see that all you had to do was ask."

"Hmmm," he says rubbing a hand across his jaw. After a moment he says, "Well what are you waiting for?"

"What makes you think I'm gonna do it now," I ask smirking at him.

"I asked," he says waving a hand at me.

"Hmf," I scoff. "You did not ask, you said and I quote "Well what are you waiting for"'.

"Well," he says starring at me intently.

"Guys can be such dolts," I say shaking my head.

"Excuse me," he says beginning to crawl onto the bed causing me to scoot back against the headboard. "I know you just called me extremely stupid, and now I may just have to take offense."

"Oh I wouldn't want that now would I," I giggle trying to move away from him.

"Oh no baby the damage has been done," he says pulling me under him. "Hmm what should your punishment be?"

"Well don't think too hard your poor brain won't be able to take it," I laugh gently rubbing the top of his head causing him to growl at me. I swear that is the sexiest sound I have ever heard. "Do that again," I say smiling up at him.

"Do what," he says in a growl. As he is talking he is running his hands up and down my body sliding my shirt up.

"That," I say breathlessly as I feel him begin to press into me. "Tig," I groan.

"Hmmm," he says kissing along my jaw and down my neck. He then gently removes my shirt and tosses it onto the floor. "You know you smart people really don't know how to form a complete sentence do you," Tig asks smirking down at me.

"Uh uh," I mutter as I take his cut off and set it on the other side of the bed, and then start to remove his shirt.

Once those pieces of clothing was removed Tig's lips met mine in a passionate kiss. His tongue dueled mine for dominance. Tig wrapped his arms around me bringing me closer to him. I swear I could feel his heart beating against my own. He slowly laid me down against the pillows encouraging me to open my legs so he could be nestled in between. As I began to feel light headed from lack of air I dragged my mouth away from his while his latched onto the column of my neck. I could feel him biting then licking the battered flesh to take away the sting. It didn't take long for him to remove my bra and begin to shower my breasts with attention. I soon found myself pushing my hips up to brush against him trying to relieve this ache that has been building up in my lower body.

"Alex," I whimper. My body needs something but I don't know what it is. All I know is that the pressure is building and the more I push up against him the better it feels. I raise my hips up again but this time I pull Tig down to me causing us to grind into one another. As I do this Tig bites down right above my breast causing me to cry out. The pressure is just building up more and more. "Alex please," I whimper again this time causing him to look up.

"What do you need Natalie," he asks gently stroking my hair back from my face.

"I don't know," I say slightly panicked. "I feel something building up inside me," I begin to say blushing.

"Where," he asks brushing our lower halves together causing a shiver to run through my body and me to gasp. "Where Natalie," he asks again softly. I just blush and look away shyly. "Here," he asks placing his hand upon my head. I shake my head no at him. "Here," he asks moving his hand down my neck to my breasts in a gentle caress. Again I shake my head trembling as his hand travels down lower over my stomach. "What about here," he says in that growly voice pressing against my aching womanhood. I just gasp and my hips involuntarily move up against his hand.

"Tig," I gasp as he presses against me again.

"Relax babe," he says softly looking into my frantic eyes. "I'm gonna make it better. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," I breathe.

"Just close your eyes," he says in a low voice, his hands traveling down to my pants. "I promise to make you feel good."


End file.
